All Landslide Victims In Samarinda Found, Bodies Evacuated To AW Sjahranie Hospital

The joint SAR team evacuated all landslide victims who buried four houses in the Belimau area, Lempake Village, Samarinda, East Kalimantan (Kaltim), Tuesday, May 13.

Head of BPBD Samarinda Suwarso explained that the last two victims named Nurul Sakira (17) and Fitri (14), were found dead today. Both were found in one room.

"Thank you for the cooperation of all teams and volunteers involved in the search operation," he said in Samarinda, Tuesday, May 13, which was confiscated by Antara.

Previously, the joint team had found two other victims, namely Hamdana (50) and Nasrul (24) on Monday, May 12.

Suwarso said that all the victims who died were successfully evacuated and had been taken to RSUD AW Sjahranie for further identification.

The evacuation process was admitted to be quite difficult due to heavy terrain and unstable soil conditions after heavy rains yesterday. Some of the evacuations were carried out manually with hoes and shovels, requiring extra caution. Heavy equipment was temporarily shifted for safety, but was again alerted at the location on Tuesday morning.

Previously, the SAR Team Coordinator for Samarinda Mardi Sianturi explained that a special strategy was implemented by lowering low-tonage heavy equipment (excavators) first to open access and tighten the ground, before larger heavy equipment was deployed.

The initial search effort was focused on the back of the house, where Hamdana was found. Then, the search was continued to the front of the house, where Nasrul was found.

"The search for the third and fourth victims was hampered by the lack of lighting at night," said Mardi.

With the discovery of the last two victims, the search and evacuation operation was declared complete.