The Ponorogo Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that the landslide, which took place at 8 a.m., buried 23 houses in the area and injured dozens of people.   

The 27 missing people also include workers who were harvesting ginger on the slopes of the hill during the incident. The landslide buried the affected area up to five meters in depth.

“We had four excavators standing by in the area to support the evacuation,” BPBD official Setyo Budiono said on Saturday.

(Read also: Rapid mine expansion in East Java may risk environment)

Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa, meanwhile, asked the Ponorogo regional administration to immediately relocate locals in the affected area, saying that the location was a disaster-prone area that could not be used as residential site.

Khofifah said the landslide was caused by a lack of area for land cover and environmental degradation. She added that other causes of the landslide included the decrease in the number of water infiltration areas and the farming system, which did not operate in line with environmental conservation efforts.

“We need to raise citizens’ awareness about natural disasters,” she said as quoted by kompas.com. (rdi/hwa)

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