SAR Team Successfully Evacuated Victims Buried in a Landslide in Mekar Rahayu Sumedang

JAKARTA - A joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team managed to evacuate one victim who was buried in a landslide in Mekar Rahayu Village, Sumedang Regency, West Java, on the second day of the search operation.

The Bandung Rescue SAR Commander, Idham Pratama, said the victim was found and evacuated at 14.39 WIB in a dead state.

"Alhamdulillah, tadi proses evakuasi korban, satu orang korban telah berhasil kita evakuasi bersama. Tepatnya pada pukul 14.39 WIB, kemudian sudah diserahterimakan kepada keluarga korban," ujarnya, Kamis, 9 April dilansir ANTARA.

He said the second day of SAR operations at the landslide site was stopped and closed after the victim was found at the last point based on the testimony of witnesses from the family.

Idham also explained that the joint SAR team faced a number of obstacles during the search process, including landslide material, unpredictable weather conditions, and limited equipment in the field.

"The limitations of the tools because they use this manual are a constraint, heavy equipment cannot enter. In addition to it, the factors of landslides and weather conditions are obstacles," said IdhamPratama.

Meanwhile, the South Sumedang Police Chief AKP Sukardi said that after the victim was found, his party immediately coordinated with the relevant parties for further handling.

"After the body was found, we reported it to the leadership for follow-up handling. Furthermore, an outside identification will be carried out without an autopsy, with consideration that the family is not interested," he said.

He said the identification process had been communicated to the victim's family and had received approval. The family is also willing to wait for the identification process to be completed before further handling is carried out.