Asia-Pacific

Indonesian landslide kills at least 3,injures 11

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-03-24 17:39

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Rescuers searched for a missing baby after a landslide struck Indonesia's Sumatra island Wednesday, killing at least three villagers and injuring 11 others, a disaster official said.

Rescuers used heavy digging equipment to retrieve three bodies and rescue eight others buried under the rubble of five buildings that had collapsed following the landslide in Saok Laweh village in West Sumatra's Solok district, said Ade Edward, head of the provincial disaster mitigation office.

Villagers used farm tools and their bare hands to help rescuers search for a 4-month-old baby who was missing under the rubble and feared dead, he said.

Edward said the landslide was apparently caused by illegal soil excavation.

"Our preliminary investigation showed the landslide was due to the occurrences of illegal soil excavation over the years on the hill surrounding the village," Edward said.

Six people remained hospitalized with critical injuries, while five others were treated and released, he said.

Earlier this month, floods and landslides struck at least three districts in the West Sumatra province, damaging hundreds of homes and public facilities.

Landslides and flooding kill scores of people every year during the monsoon season in Indonesia, a tropical archipelago with a population of 235 million. Many people live and farm on fertile but unstable mountain slopes.