February 29, 2024
JAKARTA – Landslides hit a section of road connecting Luwu regency and Palopo city in South Sulawesi on Monday, trapping at least 23 people with five victims found dead.
Amson Pandolo, the head of the South Sulawesi Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), said the cause of the landslide was heavy rain and unstable soil conditions.
“Heavy rain has been occurring since [Sunday night], which caused ground movement and resulted in landslides that covered the road,” said Amson on Tuesday.
A section of earth alongside the road, which is part of the Trans-Sulawesi Highway system, collapsed on Monday, burying motorists and cutting off travel between the regency and the city. As of Wednesday, the search and rescue team was still looking for victims who might be trapped in the landslide.
Amson reported that following the first landslide on Monday, residents had tried to force their way through the buried road and were hit by a subsequent landslide.
“People continued to force themselves through [the buried road] by helping each other push their vehicles. As they passed, a follow-up landslide occurred, which caused many vehicles and residents to be buried,” he said.
Two cars and 15 motorcycles were reportedly trapped. The five confirmed deaths were private workers Wanto, 22, and Miskawati, 24; Emelia, 30, a midwife; Mariama, 57, a teacher; and Ratang, 50.
Ratang’s body was discovered on Tuesday afternoon, after he had been reported missing in the morning.
Of the 18 survivors, five were taken to the hospital for intensive treatment for injuries, while the rest were relatively uninjured, said Rifman, the head of the search and rescue team.
Acting Luwu regent Muhammad Saleh and acting Palopo mayor Asrul Sani visited the landslide location on Monday.
“We ordered the head of the Palopo public works service to immediately bring heavy equipment to the landslide location to help clean up the landslide area and carry out searches,” said Asrul.
Saleh said the Luwu public works and housing (PUPR) agency and social services should deploy heavy equipment to help at the site and said the BPBD and volunteers should quickly establish a public kitchen.