Landslide on Mojokerto-Batu route in E Java claims 10 lives

Mojokerto (ANTARA) - A joint search and rescue (SAR) team has evacuated the bodies of 10 people killed in a landslide on a road connecting Mojokerto district and Batu city in East Java on Thursday.

"Out of the victims, 7 were traveling in a minibus, while the other 3 were in a pickup truck," head of the Surabaya SAR Office, Nanang Sigit, informed in Surabaya city, East Java, on Friday.

He said that the first victim was found at 9:30 a.m. local time, adding that the evacuation process concluded around 11 a.m.

The official added that 6 of the victims were taken to a hospital in Batu city, while the rest were sent to a hospital in Mojokerto for identification by a team from the East Java Police.

"All the victims have been identified," he added, noting that those traveling in the minibus came from Sidoarjo, while the others were from Mojokerto.

After evacuating the victims, aged between 2 and 71 years, the SAR team held a debriefing and was disbanded. The members then returned to their respective institutions.

The Pacet-Cangar road linking Mojokerto and Batu was struck by a landslide at 11:27 a.m. on Thursday.

A video uploaded on Instagram, which is believed to have been recorded using a dashboard camera, showed the moments leading up to the landslide.

The footage captured the sudden collapse of a cliff on the right side of the road in pouring rain. The debris from the landslide rendered the road impassable.

Another video showed officers from various institutions working at the scene to manage the disaster.

In addition to the National SAR Agency (Basarnas), other institutions deployed personnel to handle the disaster, including the Ministry of Social Affairs, regional disaster mitigation agencies, regional public works offices, local police offices, and a local military base.