Death toll in Indonesia landslide hits 26

At least 26 people have been confirmed dead in a landslide triggered by heavy torrential downpours in Indonesia’s Java province.

Torrential downpours triggered the landslide hitting Jemblung village in central Java late Friday.

Initial media reports put the death toll at 12.

Sources say rescue workers, security officials, and local residents are searching for 82 people still missing.

“We are trying our best to look (for) those still buried. It’s a big challenge because we are still using manual tools and the affected area is very muddy,” media outlets quoted Edi Rahmatullah, a senior military official, as saying.

Rescue efforts have been slow because the ground was still unstable and the affected area is a large valley surrounded by hills.

“The chances of finding anyone alive at this point are slim, but who knows? We just hope and pray that we can find survivors,” said Agus Haryono, a provincial search and rescue agency chief.

Indonesia’s National Disaster Management sources say rescuers have deployed excavators to battle their way through roads strewn with debris to the site of the disaster.

Incessant torrential downpours began pounding the area on Friday afternoon.

In recent years, floods and landslides have repeatedly battered Indonesia, which is a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

During Indonesia’s annual rainy season, which peaks between December and February, the country is prone to flooding, exacerbated by clogged rivers and sewers.

Officials say an average of 541 people have died every year from floods and landslides in Indonesia over the past decade