The body of the deceased, Syafrudin Mo'o, 56, was then taken to Otanaha Hospital to be cleansed of landslide materials before being sent home for burial, according to the city's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).
The agency's head, Mahmud Baderan, stated here on Thursday that Mo'o was staying at his child's home when the landslide occurred.
Although his own house is located next to his child's, the flash flood inundating his neighborhood forced him to move to his child's home. Mo'o unfortunately happened to be in the kitchen of his child's house when the landslide struck.
Baderan appealed to Tenilo's residents to move to safer places temporarily as the landslide and flooding continue to pose threats to their neighborhood area.
In addition to the one that killed Mo'o, several other neighborhood areas around Gorontalo City also experienced landslides. The affected areas are Pabean, Leato, Kota Selatan, Kota Utara, Lopu, and Talumolo, following torrential rains that pounded them on Wednesday.
Over the past week, the province has borne witness to landslides, including a massive landslide that leveled an unauthorized gold mining pit in Tulabolo Village, Bone Bolango District, on Sunday (July 7).
As of Tuesday (July 9) evening, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) reported that 131 people were affected by the disaster. Some 23 of them were confirmed dead, 35 were still missing, and 73 were found alive but had sustained injuries.
Basarnas' Operational Director, Edy Prakoso, noted that the number of people who fell victim to the landslide is "temporary and subject to change" if villagers file new reports.
Prakoso highlighted that the landslide victims were found scattered across four different spots that were the focus of the search operation for the rescuers.
Torrential rains lashed several areas of Gorontalo Province on Saturday (July 6), triggering flash floods and landslides.
Several bridges connecting access roads to the gold mining pit, located far from residential areas, collapsed.
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Translator: Susanti S, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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