There are still 27 people missing."Ponorogo (ANTARA News) - At least 27 people were still missing feared dead until Saturday afternoon in a landslide in the regency of Ponorogo, East Java.
The landslides, triggered by heavy rain, buried a number of houses in the villages of Banaran on Saturday morning (April 1st).
"There are still 27 people missing," head of the Ponorogo Disaster Control Agency (BPBD) Sumani said in the village of Banaran.
Sumani said there were 17 people injured and now being treated at a local health center.
The landslides hit when most of the people were harvesting ginger in the fields and other were still in their houses, Sumani said.
Rescue team could not remove the thick masses of earth and rock to make evacuation of victims, as heavy equipment was not yet available, he said.
A number of sets of heavy equipment were still on the way to the location, he said.
"Hopefully the equipment would arrive here tonight and we would be able to evacuate any bodies believed buried under the thick soil on Sunday morning," he said.
(Uu.H-ASG/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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