Recovery team ends search with 11 people still missing

After a seven-day hunt for victims of a landslide at a tea plantation in Bandung regency, the rescue team called off its search Monday, despite 11 people still missing and feared dead.

“As agreed at a meeting on Sunday, the rescue team has today ceased its operations and all team members have left the site,” said West Java Disaster Mitigation Agency head Udjuwalprana Sigit.

On Sunday, rescuers unearthed seven bodies from the site in Ciwidey, Bandung regency.
Sigit said the team had brought in four excavators to aid in the search for the remaining 11, but to no avail.

“The total number of bodies we’ve recovered is 33, while another 11 are still believed to be buried under mud and debris,” he said.

Initial reports put the total number of dead and missing at 45, but one of the missing, identified only as Popon, was later found alive.

“We got word yesterday that Popon is still alive and staying with relatives,” Sigit said.
Survivors remained desperate to come to grips with losing relatives.

Kaep, a mechanic at the tea plantation owned by PT Cakra Dewata, said he wished he could have been given another day to look for his wife, Ida, after a fruitless search Monday.

“What more can I do if they’ve decided to end the search today?” he said.
He added he would never return to work at the company.

“I’ll look elsewhere for another job. I’ll never go back, even if they ask,” Kaep said.

I Gde Swantika, from the volcanic and geological disaster mitigation body, said the plantation area would be declared a no-go zone.

“We’ll recommend in our report to the government that the area be declared unfit for public functions, particularly for permanent dwellings,” he said.

“We’ll recommend in our report to the government that the area be declared unfit for public functions.”

He added that prior to the landslide he had sent a warning letter to the government highlighting several areas prone to landslides, including the one in Ciwidey.

Swantika said future landslides there could not be ruled out.

Several actors associated with the Sehati Oentoek Sesama (SOS) foundation say they plan to hold a musical concert and painting exhibition in Ciwidey to raise funds for the victims of the landslide.

The actors include Rieke Diah Pitaloka, Herry Dim, Mukti-Mukti, Hanief, Beni Fitriadi, Heri Anta, Noel Saga and Matdon.

The paintings to go on display will be those by Jeihan, Herri Dim and Tisna Sanjaya.