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| A villager checks the condition of a damaged house after an earthquake measuring 4.8 magnitude on the Richter scale caused by volcanic activity in the Dieng plateau in Banjarnegara of Central Java, Indonesia, on April 20, 2013. More than 1,000 people fled in fear of being affected by poisonous gases, a local news papers reported. (Xinhua/Assabili F) |
JAKARTA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Three women working in a state- run plantation were feared dead after being buried alive in a landslide in Garut regency, West Java on Saturday, according to Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
The landslide occurred at 7:30 a.m. local time, and rescuers were hardly able to retrieve bodies of those women who were trapped under 7 to 10 meters of robble and dirt, BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
"As of now rescuers that consisted of troops, police, volunteers and regional BNPB officials have not yet retrieved bodies of the victims. The efforts to dig the dirt and rubble had to be conducted manually as the landslide location cannot be accessed by excavators," Sutopo told Xinhua by phone.
He added that the search was stopped at 5:30 p.m. and would be resumed in the morning as rain started to pour down at the site.
He said that the downpour a day before and the steep slope were to blame for the landslide.
On Friday a landslide hit a house killing four members of a family in Bogor, West Java.
The latest three victims have brought the death toll of landslide in the country this year to 131, Sutopo said.
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