The death toll from last weekâs landslide in the Jemblung hamlet of Banjarnegara, Central Java, has risen to 61 after search-and-rescue teams located five more bodies on Tuesday
he death toll from last week's landslide in the Jemblung hamlet of Banjarnegara, Central Java, has risen to 61 after search-and-rescue teams located five more bodies on Tuesday.
Banjarnegara Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Wika Hardianto said that the death-toll increase was based on current data at the identification site and that not all victims were not residents of Jemblung.
The identification process was assisted by the disaster victim identification unit of the Central Java Police and Wika added that approximately Jemblung residents were buried in the landslide.
'Some of the bodies that have been identified turned out not to be residents of Jemblung. We hope that by bringing in heavy machinery, the search-and-rescue process will accelerate,' Wika said on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
Meanwhile, the head of the Semarang Search and Rescue (SAR) office, Agus Haryanto, said that the SAR team was still unable to bring in heavy machinery because of the fragile terrain.
'The condition of the soil is still friable and prone to collapse,' he explained.
The rescue efforts were hit by heavy rains on Tuesday, temporarily forcing them to halt. (dyl)(++++)
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