Death toll in Indonesia landslides rises to 38, many still missing

The death toll from Saturday’s landslide in Indonesia rose to 38 as search and rescue operations continued for dozens of people reported missing in West Java, according to Indonesia’s disaster management agency.

The number includes 23 soldiers that were trapped by landslides and confirmed dead by authorities.

The landslide hit Pasir Langu village in the Bandung Barat region early on Saturday, triggered by heavy rains that began a day earlier.

The village was located in a hilly area of the province about 100 kilometres southeast of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.

The 23 Marines were caught in the landslide during training exercises for Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border patrols on Saturday, First Admiral Tunggul, the Navy spokesperson, said.

"The incident occurred due to extreme weather conditions with heavy rainfall, which caused a landslide at the training site," said Tunggul, who goes by only one name.

Rising death toll

West Java Police Operations Chief Senior Commissioner Areis La Ode Aries El Fathar said that of the 38 body bags currently held at a community health centre, 20 body bags had been identified by Monday evening, while 18 are yet to be processed by the police. Areis added that the work is ongoing and will resume tomorrow.

At least 800 rescuers, military and police personnel, along with nine excavators, have been deployed to find the missing people.

Abdul Muhari, a spokesperson at Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, said 685 residents of the stricken village had been evacuated to local government buildings.

The landslide happened during the peak of the wet season on Java island.

Floods hit several parts of Indonesia last week, including Jakarta and some cities in West Java and Central Java.

The landslide occurred two months after cyclone-induced floods and landslides on the island of Sumatra killed 1,200 people, destroyed homes and displaced over a million residents.