Indonesian rescuers fear nearly 30 buried in Java landslide

About 30 people, including farmers harvesting ginger, were feared to be buried by a landslide triggered by heavy rain on Indonesia's Java island on Saturday.

Aftermath of a landslide at Banaran village in Ponorogo, East Java province, Indonesia.
TRT World and Agencies

Aftermath of a landslide at Banaran village in Ponorogo, East Java province, Indonesia.

A landslide triggered by a heavy rain struck Indonesia's Java island on Saturday, burying several people and injuring 17 others.

Indonesian rescuers, joined by police and soldiers, found one body and continued to look for 28 other people feared to be buried on Java island, a spokesman for the national disaster agency said on Sunday.

The mud and debris from Saturday's landslide in a village in the Ponorogo area of East Java had engulfed more than 20 houses after sliding 800 metres down a hillside, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Police and soldiers were helping residents to clear the mud and debris to look for victims after the landslide in the village in the Ponorogo area of East Java.

The exact number of people missing was still unclear.

Rescue efforts were hampered by people flocking to the area to see the landslide and causing traffic jams.

The local disaster mitigation agency had warned of the risk of a landslide due to recent rain.

Some people had only returned to the village on Saturday after staying the night in a shelter.

TRT World's Christine Pirovolakis reports.

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