Six dead, 66 buried by Indonesian landslide

Rescuers used heavy digging equipment on Wednesday to clear a muddy landslide that killed at least six people and left 66 buried on Indonesia’ main island of Java, an official said.

Days of heavy rain prompted the landslide Tuesday afternoon at a mountainous tea plantation near the village of Tenjoljaya in Ciwidey district of West Java province, destroying scores of homes.

Villagers using farm tools and their bare hands recovered six bodies from the mud by late Tuesday and two excavators arrived Wednesday to assist in the efforts, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono said.

“Rescuers have pulled six bodies manually from the mud and another 66 remain buried under the mud and are feared dead,” Mr. Kardono said. He said another 15 people had been injured, two of whom had been admitted to hospital.

The winding mountain roads made boggy by the days of heavy rain were hampering efforts to get equipment and rescuers to the scene, he said, adding that more landslides were possible.

Some 600 villagers from the region have been evacuated to temporary shelters in safer locations, Mr. Kardono said. Most of these were from unaffected nearby villages that were in landslide-prone areas.

Mr. Kardono said 25 people were believed to have died in the plantation’s factory and office. It was not immediately clear where the six bodies were found.