200 feared dead in
landslip Activists
say deforestation is one of the reasons of the calamity
c Second
disaster to hit Java island this week. 300
persons are thought to be missing. Land conversion played a role in causing the
disaster
SIJERUI(
(|I{D0NESIA): A landslip unleashed by heavy rains in Indonesia's Central Java
on Wednesday has killed 16 persons but hundreds were feared dead as rescuers
called off a
search for survivors amid safety concerns. A torrent of
mud slammed into dozens of homes in Sijeruk village,, 370 km east of Jakarta, in
the second disaster to hit Java island this wee caused by monsoon rains and,
activists charged, deforestation. '"We suspect there are about 200 persons
in 120
houses buried in the mud," local chief of police operations Budi
said, adding that about 150 police and soldiers were involved in
rescue operations. A district welfare official. Umar thought,
missing. The landslip slammed into houses at about 5:0b am (2200 GMT on
Tuesday) after three days of monsoon rains. Television footage showed workers
using two excavators and hand tools to dig into the mound in the hope of
finding survivors. Only the top of tiled roofs of some houses were visible,
along with smashed timber debris and other semi-flattened brick and concrete homes.
Search called off Rescue worker Dedi Suromli said the search was called off due
to bad weather and would resume early on Thursday. "It is raining and
fogger and it's not sate to continue the search," he told A-FP, adding
that 95 persons were thought to remain under the sludge. He said the landslip
covered about six hectares and the mud was as deep as five metres. Banjar
Negara deputy police chief Gusty Indra Clhvadi' told the online Detikcom news
agency that the road leading to the villag:6 was damaged, hampering efforts io
bring in more heavy rescue equipment. He said the area was prone to landslips
during the rainy season but in the past only l0 houses had been affected at
most. The landslip came as rescuers continued to sift through debris and mud in
the aftermath-of flash floods in East Java
province which have killed at least 57 persons and left the
thousands homeless said the toll stood at 16. I He said about 570
persons lived in | ::re
area, with one section where | ,.out 170 persons live unaffected. I' did not
say how many persons l: I been accounted for. Local television said some 3O0
persons were and left thousands homeless.”The evacuation of
bodies is still continuing. Twenty bodies are still at the scene but they have
been included in the tally," Teduh Tedjo, who is coordinating police
rescue efforts. Four villages in Jember district. 800 km east of the capital,
were affected. About 5,000 refugees sheltered in mosques, schools and other
government buildings as 400 police and -troops built emergency bridges and
ferried medical aid, food and water to survivors. Environmentalists blamed both
disasters on rampant illegal logging as well as land conversion for farming on
Java, one of the world’s most densely populated islands, as they called on the Government
to take action. Greenpeace Southeast Asia forestry campaigner Hapsoro said,
"This is a sign for the Indonesian government to be more serious
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