Indonesian rescuers struggle with mud, debris in search for dozens missing after deadly landslide
Bandung (Indonesia) (AP): Indonesian rescuers struggled Sunday with mounds of mud, debris and water-soaked ground, searching for dozens still missing after a landslide triggered by torrential rains the day before on the country's main island of Java killed at least 11 people.
The predawn landslide roared down the slopes of Mount Burangrang in West Java province on Saturday, burying some 34 houses in Pasir Langu village. On Sunday, 79 people remained missing, many feared buried under tons of mud, rocks and uprooted trees.
About 230 residents living near the site have been evacuated to temporary government shelters. Rescue workers retrieved two more bodies on Sunday morning, bringing the death toll to 11, according to Ade Dian Permana from the search and rescue office.
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Videos released on Saturday by the country's search and rescue agency, known as Basarnas, showed rescuers using farm tools and their bare hands to pull a mud-caked body from the ground and placing it in an orange bag to take it away for burial.
Heavy equipment and excavators were mostly idle because the ground was too soft and unstable.
"If the slope does not stabilise, crews are prepared to continue manually," Permana said, estimating the height of the mounds of mud to be up to 5 metres (16 feet)
“Some homes are buried up to the roof level,” he added.
Visiting the area on Sunday, Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka pledged that authorities would take measures to prevent similar disasters. He urged the local authorities in West Java and West Bandung to "address the issue of land conversion in disaster-prone areas,” including ways to reduce risks.
Basarnas chief Mohammad Syafii confirmed to reporters after visiting the devastated Pasir Langu village with Gibran, that the terrain condition and bad weather continue to complicate search operations on Sunday.
“We are at the mercy of the weather, and the slide is still mud ... flowing and unstable,” Syafii said, ”With the area this wide, we'll use every asset we have ... drones, K-9 teams and ground units, but safety comes first."
Seasonal rains and high tides from about October to April frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.
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No exit polls from 7 am of April 9 till 6.30 pm of April 29: EC
New Delhi (PTI): Exit polls can neither be held nor disseminated from 7 am of April 9 till 6.30 pm of April 29 for the five assembly elections taking place this month, the Election Commission has said.
It has also cautioned that conducting or broadcasting exit polls in the period is violative of section 126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and is "punishable with imprisonment up to a period of two years, or with fine or both".
While Kerala, Assam and Puducherry going for assembly polls on April 9, the electoral exercise will be held in Tamil Nadu on April 23.
In West Bengal, state polls will be held on April 23 and 29.
While the 48 hour 'silence period' in Kerala and Puducherry will commence at 6 pm on Tuesday, it will kick in at 5 pm in Assam.
Silence period means end of campaigning 48 hours ahead of the end of voting hour in a particular constituency or the entire state.
Except door-to-door campaigning by a limited number of party workers or candidate, no other form of campaigning is allowed. But in a digital age, it is difficult to enforce.
Usually voting is held from 7 am to 6 pm. But the timing varies due to terrain and security situation.
