SAR Team Finds Two Bodies Of South Tapanuli Landslide Victims, A Total Of 9 Victims Found

JAKARTA - The SAR team on the fourth day of searching for victims of the landslide natural disaster in Batang Toru, South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra, again found two victims.

"Today there are two bodies found, one with an intact condition, the other is difficult to identify," said the Head of Emergency and Logistics of South Tapanuli Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Hotmatua Rambe, as reported by Antara, Tuesday, May 4.

The first body whose condition was difficult to recognize was found at 11.30 western Indonesia time, on the banks of the Batang Toru River in Muara Batang Toru District, South Tapanuli.

"One and a half hours later or around 01.00 WIB, SAR found an intact body floating in the Batang Toru River in Rianiate Village, Angkola Sangkunur District," he said.

He said the two bodies were taken to the Sipirok Regional Hospital for identification.

"With the addition of these two bodies, a total of nine victims were found dead," he said.

With nine bodies found, there are four more bodies suspected to have not been found or a total of 13 people previously declared missing due to the landslide.

From thirteen victims, the ten victims who were lost due to landslides in Wek 1 Batang Toru due to rain, were residents and the other three were employees of the Batang Toru hydropower plant, one of whom was a foreigner.