MAKASSAR: At least 18 people were found dead and two others missing after a landslide in Tana Toraja Regency, South Sulawesi Province Regional Disaster Management Agency (14 April).
The dead victim and two survivors were evacuated from two villages affected by the landslide disaster which occurred in two places, Palangka Hamlet, Makale District and Putu Hamlet, Lembang Randan Batu, South Makale District.
Prior to this, media reports stated there were 19 fatalities, with four deaths in South Makale and 15 others in Makale village.
Two people were reported missing and were thought to have been buried by landslide debris.
After this incident, Acting Governor of South Sulawesi Bahtiar Baharuddin handed over aid to the victims on Sunday (14 April).
Tana Toraja and its surroundings are “continuously hit by heavy rain, especially over the last week, and it almost never stops”, added BPBD Head Sulaiman Malia to reporters.
Heavy rainfall eroded residential land located on mountain slopes, causing landslides that buried residents’ houses, he said.
According to the Antara news agency, the cause of the incident was the impact of moderate-high intensity rain for several days and unstable ground conditions or resulting in landslides that buried a number of residents’ houses while residents were asleep. Losses are estimated at hundreds of millions of rupiah.
Parts of Indonesia are prone to landslides during the rainy season and this problem is exacerbated in some places by deforestation, and prolonged heavy rains cause flooding in some areas.
Last month flash floods and landslides on the island of Sumatra killed at least 30 people and many more are still missing.
Landslides and floods swept away dozens of homes and destroyed a hotel near Lake Toba in Sumatra in December, killing at least two people.
