6 People Buried By Landslides On The Trenggalek Slope

A landslide hit a residential area in Lereng Gunung Wilis, Depok Village, Bendungan District, Trenggalek, East Java. The landslide caused six people to be missing and allegedly buried in the house.

The Head of the Trenggalek Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Sacrificial Atmono said the search for victims was currently ongoing.

The landslide was triggered by the rain that has been pouring the area since the last two days, especially from Sunday to Monday morning and continues Monday afternoon to evening.

"Temporary data, a total of 10 houses were affected in this landslide incident, three of which were completely buried," said Mikhari as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, May 9.

BPBD together with the National SAR Agency assisted by disaster volunteers and TNI-Polri personnel are currently conducting mitigation, including searching for victims who are still missing.

"There are six people who are still being searched because they are suspected of being inside the house when the landslide occurred," he said.

The six residents were Machineem, Nitin, Tulus, Yatini, Yatemi, and Torik.

In addition to the missing victims, seven survivors are currently being evacuated at the temporary post built by BPBD Trenggalek in front of the Joglo Trenggalek Bundesma.

Landslides not only hit residential areas, but also caused a number of electric poles to collapse and cut off road access due to five avalanche points around the location.

The evacuation process is still constrained by the rainy weather and cut off access.

BPBD Trenggalek together with a joint team from the TNI, Polri, volunteers, and local residents continue to search for victims and evacuate landslide materials.

Apart from the Dam District, landslides were also reported in a number of other areas in Trenggalek, including Tasikmadu Village (Watulimo), Ngulungkulon and Bangun Village (Munjungan), and Sumberdadi Village (Trenggalek) and Pule Village (Pule).

Meanwhile, floods reportedly submerged hundreds of houses in urban areas, such as Tamanan Village, Kelutan Village, Ngares Village, and several points in Pogalan District.

BPBD urges people in vulnerable areas to increase awareness of potential aftershocks, considering that rainfall is estimated to be still high in the next few days.