Landslide Mine Of Mount Kuda Kills 14 People, SAR Team Continues To Search For Victims Who Are Still Buried

The joint team from BPBD, TNI, Polri, and volunteers continued the evacuation process, especially to find victims who are still buried in the excavation area of C Gunung Kuda Cirebon, West Java, on Saturday morning.

Deputy Regent of Cirebon Agus Kurniawan said that based on the latest data collection, there were 14 people who died and six survivors in landslide incidents in the area.

"We are currently re-identifying incoming data, because previously there were eight that were reported missing," he said, Saturday, May 31, as reported by ANTARA.

The local government has set this disaster in an emergency response status, to expedite the process of handling the incident.

According to him, the emergency response period will be imposed for the next seven days, starting from the day of the incident on Friday (30/5).

In addition, Agus ensured that all costs for treating injured victims and burial of bodies were fully borne by the government.

"All costs for victims of minor, serious injuries, and those who died were borne because this was a disaster emergency response status. Local governments are fully responsible," he said.

The search process continues to be carried out to evacuate several victims who are thought to be still buried by landslide material.

The local government, he said, is also reviewing the amount of compensation for the families of the victims who died.

"We are currently compiling the amount and mechanism for distributing compensation. Hopefully, the assistance can be received by the victim's family soon," said Agus.

Since Friday night, access to landslide locations has been limited to only the evacuation team and authorities.

Currently, some heavy equipment has been deployed to speed up the search process, although the weather and unstable soil conditions are a challenge in itself.

At the time of the incident, dozens of mining workers were at the location when a cliff about 30 meters high had hit the mining area, he said.