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Landslide Kills 16, Around 80 Still Missing in Indonesia’s West Java

By The South Asia Times

JAKARTA - The death toll from a landslide in Indonesia’s West Java province has risen to 16, while around 80 people remain missing, as search and identification efforts continued on Sunday, police said.

West Java Regional Police spokesperson Senior Commissioner Hendra Rochmawan said that 16 body bags had been recovered from the landslide-hit Cisarua District in West Bandung Regency as of Sunday afternoon, according to state-run Antara News.

“As of 12:00 p.m. local time today, the number of body bags we have received has increased to 16. Yesterday, we had recovered 11,” Rochmawan told reporters in Bandung.

He said all the bodies were transferred to a Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) post at the Pasirlangu Community Health Center, where forensic teams are working to establish identities.

According to police, nine of the victims have so far been positively identified through a combination of manual and digital antemortem data, including fingerprints and national identity records.

“The identification process is being conducted both manually and through an electronic system integrated with the national population database,” Rochmawan said.

Search and rescue teams are still looking for around 80 missing people, as the landslide damaged more than 30 houses and displaced an estimated 300 to 400 residents from 34 affected families.

Heavy rainfall has complicated rescue efforts in the area, and officials warned that unstable soil conditions could pose further risks as operations continue.