5 die in Indonesia as rubbish mound collapses at largest landfill, several missing
Heavy rain triggered a huge avalanche of waste at the critical but overwhelmed site, with hundreds involved in a search and rescue operation
A massive avalanche of garbage at Indonesia’s largest landfill site killed at least five people and left several others missing after heavy overnight rain triggered a rubbish dump collapse, officials said Monday.
More than 300 search-and-rescue personnel, using heavy machinery and sniffer dogs, were deployed to the sprawling dump site late on Sunday at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Treatment Facility in Bekasi, a city just outside the capital of Jakarta.
Rescuers worked cautiously amid unstable heaps of waste, said Desiana Kartika Bahari, who heads Jakarta’s Search and Rescue Office.
She said the victims included two garbage truck drivers and two food stall sellers who had been working or resting near the landfill, while four people managed to escape the disaster.
Rescuers, including police, soldiers and volunteers, were still searching for at least three people reported missing, Bahari said.
“We had not ruled out the possibility of more victims,” she said. “We are still gathering data to confirm how many vehicles and workers were caught beneath the debris.”