DVI Team Receives 29 Bodies of Cisarua Landslide Victims, Basarnas Estimates 61 Others Still Buried

A joint SAR team is searching for a landslide victim in Pasirlangu Village, Cisarua, West Bandung Regency, West Java, Sunday, January 25, 2026. (ANTARA FOTO/Abdan Syakura)

JAKARTA - The joint SAR team said it had evacuated 29 bodies of victims of the Cisarua landslide, West Bandung Regency, West Java. Dozens of bodies have been handed over to the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team.

Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Mohammad Syafii said that in today's search operation, four bodies had been found by 13.00 WIB and an estimated 61 other victims were still buried.

"The number of victims who were successfully evacuated today was four bodies, so the total number of victims handed over was 29 since the first SAR operation was carried out," he said in Bandung, Monday, quoted by Antara.

He also said that as many as 17 bodies had been identified and other processes were still ongoing by the police.

"For the number of victims who have been identified, the legal authority is with the National Police. The last information I received, 17 victims have been identified and handed over to their families," he added.

Mohammad Syafii also explained that his party today resumed the search and evacuation process for the Cisarua landslide victims by deploying joint personnel and nine heavy equipment at a number of affected points.

He added that the search efforts were also strengthened with the support of air elements to reach areas that were difficult to access by land routes.

"For the air element, today three helicopters are operated, each from the Indonesian Air Force, the Indonesian Army, and the Indonesian Navy. In addition, drones are also operated," he said.

On that occasion, he explained that the limited access road to the landslide location was one of the obstacles to the evacuation process.

"Today and since yesterday heavy equipment has been deployed. However, due to limited road space, only small and medium-sized heavy equipment can be operated," he said.

He explained that the landslide in the Cisarua area had a fairly large and complex scale, making it difficult to search for victims in the field with an estimated length of the landslide tongue reaching 2,009 meters and a width of 140 meters.

"Based on measurements, it is known that there are two landslide crowns. The length of the crown to the tongue of the landslide is estimated to be 2,009 meters, with a maximum width of about 140 meters. However, this figure is an estimate because the landslide widens to the left and right," he explained.

He added that the implementation of search and rescue operations would continue to be adjusted to the results of evaluation and conditions in the field, including personnel safety aspects.

"SAR operations will be evaluated on the seventh day. However, the local government through BPBD has set the emergency response status for 14 days," said Syafii.