Land Land Land Land Victims Land Landslides In North Tapanuli Couple And 1 Year Old Children, Trapped In Cars

Cars of landslide victims in North Tapanuli/ Photo: Antara

The landslide disaster that occurred on the North Tapanuli Border Cross Road and North Sumatra Central Tapanuli, Saturday afternoon, February 3, resulted in three deaths in the fateful incident.

"The landslide occurred, Saturday, February 3, 2024, at around 17.30 WIB, causing three people to die, and a number of cars were buried in the ground and dragged into the river," said Head of the Public Relations Section, North Tapanuli Police, Aipda W. Baringbing, Antara, Sunday 4 February.

He explained that the victims who died were a family consisting of a husband, wife and a one-year-old child who were residents of the city of Medan, North Sumatra.

"In this incident, six cars were buried by landslides and one was dragged by the river. The joint team evacuated," he said.

He explained that a number of passengers managed to survive the fateful incident because they had left their vehicle before the landslide occurred.

"When the car was parked waiting for help, the six passengers who parked came out and stopped at a shop near the incident. Meanwhile, the car passengers who were dragged into the river remained in the car because it was raining very heavily waiting for the help of the response. The six cars that were hit by landslides survived because they had gotten out of their cars," he said.

In an effort to handle it, he said, a number of related parties immediately evacuated at the location by lowering two heavy equipment.

"Until now, the traffic flow is still in one direction because the landslide pile road is still not completely clean," he said.

Meanwhile, the staff of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of North Tapanuli, Septian Nasution, said that after receiving information on the landslide disaster, a number of joint officers evacuated the victims.

"Pemkab melalui BPBD dan dinas PUPR sudah menurunkan alat berat untuk mengevakuasi material longsor dan mencari para korban," ujar Staff Septian Nasution.

Septian explained that the landslide incident occurred due to high-intensity rains that occurred in the local area which caused cliff soil on a number of national roads to saturate with rainwater.

"The heavy rain caused landslides that covered a number of national roads and caused one unit of residents' houses to be destroyed and a number of motorists became victims," he said.

Based on the data obtained, he said, dozens of people were victims of the ill-fated incident and are currently being evacuated to get further action.