26 missing, at least 13 dead in Indonesia landslides

Indonesian officials say rescuers are searching for 26 people still missing after two landslides hit a village in West Java province over the weekend

Indonesia Landslides (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Rescuers are searching for 26 people still missing after two landslides hit a village in Indonesia’s West Java province over the weekend, officials said Tuesday.

At least 13 people were killed and 29 others injured in the landslides that were triggered by heavy rain on Sunday in Cihanjuang, a village in West Java's Sumedang district. Some of the victims were rescuers from the first landslide.

The search and rescue operation has been hampered by rainy weather around the disaster site, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Raditya Jati.

Seasonal rains and high tides in recent days have caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains close to rivers.