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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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
