Rescue operation for Indonesia landslide ends

Bangkok, Dec 22 (IANS/EFE) Authorities Monday called off the search for survivors of the Dec 12 landslide in the Indonesian island of Java which claimed 95 lives and left 13 people missing.

The last two bodies to be found were those of a mother and her child, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesperson of Indonesia's disaster management agency.

Hundreds of volunteers and emergency medical staff worked for more than a week to retrieve the bodies of almost 100 inhabitants of Jemblung in Java after it was struck by a landslide Dec 12.

Purwo said that the rescue operations have been called off due to the rainy weather which could cause more landslides.

The agency's main priority now will be to relocate some 2,000 people who have been temporarily placed in evacuation centres following the natural disaster.

According to local authorities, the landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall in the region.

Every year, hundreds of people die in landslides which are more frequent during the rainy season in Indonesia between November and March.

--IANS/EFE

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