The death toll from a series of landslides on Indonesia’s Java island has risen to 30, with rescuers still searching for many missing people, officials said.
Heavy rainfall triggered a major landslide in Banjarnegara district in Central Java on Saturday, destroying at least 48 homes, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
More than 700 personnel from the military, police, search-and-rescue units and volunteer groups have been deployed, along with tracking dogs, BNPB spokesman Abdul Muhari said late on Thursday.
Muhari confirmed that rescuers had recovered seven additional bodies, bringing the Banjarnegara toll to 10, with 18 people still unaccounted for.
Nearly 1,000 residents remain evacuated, and authorities warn that continuing rain, water build-up and active springs could trigger further slides and hinder operations. An AFP photographer reported heavy machinery working through deep mud as teams combed debris in affected villages.
In a separate disaster, a landslide struck three villages in neighbouring Cilacap district last Thursday. At least 20 people have been confirmed dead and three remain missing, BNPB said on Wednesday, with no further update issued.
The monsoon season, which typically runs from June to September, routinely brings landslides, flash floods and waterborne disease across the archipelago. The National Weather Service has warned of more heavy rain in the coming weeks.
Officials say climate change is altering storm patterns, intensifying rainfall, flash flooding and wind gusts. In eastern Indonesia, flash floods and landslides in remote Papua have killed at least 23 people, according to Muhari.
