Landslides In Sibolangit Disable Medan-Berastagi Route, 3 People Die

JAKARTA The Medan-Berastagi crossing was completely paralyzed due to landslides that occurred in Sibolangit District, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, in the early hours of Wednesday, November 27.

The landslide along Jalan Jamin Ginting resulted in three deaths and a number of vehicles being buried by avalanche material.

In amateur video footage on social media @sintaefendi, a landslide can be seen that causes the vehicle to stop suddenly because it is buried in material. One of the cars even overturned, forcing passengers to try to get out and save themselves.

The joint SAR team consisting of Basarnas, Deli Serdang BPBD, TNI, Polri, and Sibolangit District Government continued to try to clean up landslide material and evacuate buried vehicles.

To date, there are six landslide points in Sibolangit District, with one point declared quite severe.

The Director of Traffic of the North Sumatra Police, Kombes Muji Ediyanto, stated that three victims who died had been evacuated to the Bhayangkara Hospital in Medan for identification. In addition, there are still several landslide points that require intensive treatment.

"There are three points to the land of Karo that are still in the process of being evacuated. One of the points is quite severe with several vehicles being hit by landslide material," said Muji.

This landslide occurred due to the high intensity of rain since Tuesday night 26 November. Muji appealed to people who want to travel between Medan and Berastagi to use alternative routes through the city of Binjai, because the main route is still not passable.

Authorities asked the public to remain alert to the potential for further landslides given weather conditions that still have the potential for heavy rain.