Indonesia landslide toll rises as search continues

JAKARTA - The death toll from a landslide that hit two Indonesian villagers near a garbage dump rose to 51 on Wednesday as rescuers continued to dig through choking piles of dirt and waste for more bodies.

Little hope is held for 112 people still listed as missing after a wall of black mud and garbage up to seven metres high slammed into homes in the West Java villages as people slept before dawn on Monday.

"The number of dead victims is 51," said Gunawan Rasyid, a rescue post official and village leader from the worst-hit village of Cilimus.

Rasyid said 46 of the victims were from his village alone. The toll had risen from 43 listed as dead on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Rasyid estimated that 90 percent of the missing would be dead because they were buried beneath what he described as hazardous waste from the dump about a kilometre away from Cilimus and the other village of Cireundeu.

Police have said heavy rains appeared to have brought down piles of garbage that in turn triggered the landslide above the two villages, leaving a swathe of broken rooftops and shattered, twisted beams from broken houses.

Rescuers searching for victims had dug through the rubble with their hands and shovels after the landslide but Dadang, another rescue official, said on Wednesday that three bulldozers had begun clearing masses of garbage and debris.

Dozens of troops and police had joined the search, he said.

"We think that most of the missing are now dead because their houses were buried along with their relatives," Dadang told Reuters by telephone from the Garut town, near the disaster site.

The search continued as some rain fell overnight but rescue officials fear heavier rain could trigger another landslide.

Residents have long complained about the dump near their homes and have held many protests since it was set up in 1980 to serve Bandung, a city of two million people 140km southeast of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Landslides are common in other areas of Indonesia, with many blamed on deforestation across vast areas. In April 2004, 44 people died in a landslide in West Sumatra province.

South of Bandung, more than 50,000 people were evacuated as floods neared their homes.

- REUTERS