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At Least 11 Dead in Indonesia Landslides


An ambulance is lifted after it was buried in a landslide in Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia, Jan. 9, 2021, in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media. (Rescue Motor Indonesia/via Reuters)
An ambulance is lifted after it was buried in a landslide in Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia, Jan. 9, 2021, in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media. (Rescue Motor Indonesia/via Reuters)

Indonesian officials say at least 11 people are dead and 18 others injured in back-to-back landslides in Sumedang regency, West Java, Saturday night.

“The first landslide happened due to heavy rain and unstable soil condition in that area,” Raditya Jati, an official with Indonesia's National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), said in a statement. “A subsequent landslide occurred when some search and rescue personnel were evacuating victims in the first landslide area.”

Search and rescue workers are among the dead.

The search and rescue effort will resume Sunday, carried out by a joint team of military, police and local disaster agency workers, who are waiting for heavy equipment to arrive to aid in the operation.

The landslides also cut off a bridge and several roads in the area.

Saturday’s heavy rain triggered landslides in several areas in West Java, including Garut and Sumedang.

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency is forecasting heavy rain, lightning and strong winds Sunday and Monday.

The peak months of the rainy season in Indonesia are in January and February.

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