In Indonesia, seven people were killed, and 82 others were reported missing following a landslide in West Java province, amid reports of heavy rainfall.
The National Disaster Management Agency today said that the landslide occurred in a village in the West Bandung region. Earlier, the National Weather Agency warned of adverse weather conditions, including heavy rainfall in West Java province for a week.
Triggered by heavy rainfall, it struck villages in Java’s West Bandung region in the early hours and buried residential areas. Floods and landslides are common across the vast archipelago during the rainy season, which typically runs from October to March.
At 2:30 a.m. (1930 GMT Friday), “there was a rumbling noise, like thunder”, Oyoh, a resident of Pasirlangu village who, like many Indonesians, only has one name, told AFP.
Environmentalists, experts and the government have pointed to the role forest loss played in the flooding and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages.
Forests help absorb rainfall and stabilise the ground held by their roots, and their absence makes areas more prone to flash flooding and landslides, David Gaveau, founder of conservation start-up The TreeMap, told AFP in December.