Kediri Sends Personel to Help Evacuate Nganjuk Lanslide Victims

Kediri, East Java, (Antara) - The Kediri city administration in East Java has sent its Regional Disaster Management Board (BPBD) personnel to assist in the process of evacuating the landslide victims in Nganjuk District.

"We have sent our personnel to Nganjuk to help speed up the evacuation process," BPBD Rapid Response Team Coordinator Bambang Riadi remarked here on Wednesday.

Riadi said this was done as a form of solidarity, with the hope that the victims, who went missing in the landslide in Ponorogo, East Java, could be found quickly.

The landslide that hit Nganjuk District on Sunday has led to five people going missing and displacing 70 others.

Emergency tents and a public kitchen have been set up, and the Nganjuk health office had provided medical services, Deputy Governor of East Java Saifullah Yusuf stated in Surabaya, the provincial city, on Monday.

"Heavy equipment is on the way and will be used for evacuation," he revealed.

Nganjuk District Head Taufiqurrahman has tasked the commander of the Nganjuk military district command to lead an emergency response effort.

The five missing villagers have been identified as 15-year-old Kodri, 23-year-old Doni, 17-year-old Dwi, 14-year-old Bayu, and 55-year-old Paidi.

Earlier on April 1, 2017, a major landslide buried 28 people and 35 homes in Banaran Village, Pulung Sub-district, Ponorogo District, also in East Java Province.

Due to incessant, heavy rains and difficult terrain, only four bodies have been found so far, while the remaining 24 are feared to be still buried under thick mud and rubble.

A 1,640-member joint search and rescue team, comprising volunteers and disaster mitigation, police, and military officers, among others, has continued to look for the missing victims.

The landslide has injured at least 17 people and displaced 178 others, while three survivors were rescued immediately after the disaster.(*)