Sixth Day Of Operation, SAR Team Intensify Search For 7 Victims Of Cilacap Landslide

Landslides in Cibeunying Village, Cibuyut Hamlet and Tarukahan, Cilacap Regency, Central Java (doc BNPB)

The joint search and rescue (SAR) team intensified the search for seven victims who were still buried by landslides in Cibeunying Village, Cilacap Regency, Central Java, with a focus on operations at three worksite points on the sixth day, Tuesday, November 18.

Head of the Cilacap SAR/Basarnas Office Muhammad Abdullah in Cibeunying Village, Majenang District, Cilacap, Tuesday, November 18, said the search effort would still be strengthened with five main methods.

The joint SAR team conducted a search with a focus on Worksite A-1, B-1, and B-2. By continuing to use five search methods, namely drone monitoring, the use of sniffer dogs, alkons or compressor aids, manual and modern extraction tools, as well as heavy equipment," said Muhammad Abdullah who is also the SAR Mission Coordinator (SMC) quoted by Antara.

Abdullah said field operations involved four teams, consisting of units working at Worksite A-1, B-1, B-2, and the cutting team in charge of opening access to heavy equipment movements, especially excavators, so that the material sweeping process could be accelerated.

In this case, the search at Worksite A-1 was focused on one victim, while at Worksite B-1 and Worksite B-2 three victims were respectively in search.

The landslide disaster occurred on Thursday (13/11), around 19.00 WIB, and buried a number of houses in Tarukahan Hamlet and Cibuyut Hamlet, Cibeunying Village, Majenang District, Cilacap.

The landslide damaged 12 houses and threatened 16 other houses in an area of about 6.5 hectares. Landslides stockpiled settlements and caused 2 meters of land to fall and 25 meters of cracks.

Based on temporary data up to the fifth day of Monday's SAR operation (17/11), the total number of victims affected by landslides was 46 people, consisting of 23 survivors, 16 deaths, and seven others are still being searched.