The death toll from Indonesia’s natural disaster has risen to 30 after rescue workers recovered more bodies from the rubble of a massive landslide on remote Natuna island. Officials gave this information on Thursday.
The National Disaster Prevention Agency said in a statement that the search operation was being conducted in Genting village on a remote island in the Natuna region off the South China Sea. There, 30 houses were buried under the debris in the landslide that occurred on Monday following torrential rains. Abdul Rahman, head of Natuna’s search and rescue agency, said authorities have deployed more than 700 rescuers from the search and rescue agency, the police and the army to search for the 24 people who are still missing. These people are feared to be trapped in the houses buried under the debris of the landslide.
“With the improvement in weather, we were able to recover more bodies,” Rahman said in a video statement. Suharyanto, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, said on Thursday that eight people were pulled alive from the rubble, three of whom remained in critical condition. The rescue operation is being affected due to heavy rain at the spot.
“We are doing our best to trace the missing people,” Suhriyanto said. He told that dog squad is also being used. Two helicopters and several ships arrived on Wednesday carrying rescue teams, medical teams and relief supplies including tents, blankets and food from Jakarta and surrounding islands. Suharyanto said Monday’s landslide left about 1,300 people homeless, who took shelter in temporary shelters.
