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Nine dead, others missing in landslide

Caritas is on the scene with aid
Nine dead, others missing in landslide
A rescue team recovers bodies from the landslide (Photo courtesy BPBD Jabar)
Published: March 26, 2013 06:14 AM GMT
Updated: March 25, 2013 08:47 PM GMT

At least nine people are dead, eight more are missing, and at least nine houses have been buried after a landslide hit yesterday morning in West Java.

Seventeen families – 76 people – were evacuated to a nearby school, according to a program coordinator at Caritas in Bandung, the provincial capital.

Caritas has distributed goods including food, toothpaste, soap, blankets and sarongs to displaced victims, Salomo Marbun said.

“Right now we are focusing on them,” he said, although a needs assessment is ongoing.

The disaster site is difficult to access, he said. “We need to drive a car six kilometers uphill… If it rains, the road is slippery.”

A team of 150 people including police, military, Indonesian Red Cross Disaster Response Team, volunteers and local residents continued the search for the missing people today. 

“An emergency response was started yesterday and will last for seven days,” said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

The landslide was triggered by torrential rains in the area. 

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