Nearly 30 people are feared buried in a landslide on Indonesia’s Java island. Indonesian rescuers, police, and soldiers have already found one body and are continuing to search for 28 other people, according to a spokesman for the national disaster agency.
The landslide was triggered by heavy rain on April 1. It occurred in a village in the Ponorogo area of East Java. Mud and debris engulfed more than 20 houses after sliding 875 yards (800 meters) down a hillside, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
Among the victims are believed to be a group of farmers harvesting ginger in the area.
Seventeen people had been injured and were being treated at a community health center.
Rescue efforts were hindered by traffic jams caused by people flocking to the area to see the landslide, said Nugroho.
The local disaster mitigation agency had issued the risk of a landslide due to rainy weather. Some people had only returned to the village on the day of landslide after staying at a shelter the night before.
