In Indonesia, rescuers are searching for survivors after a landslide killed 19 people in Java News

In Pekalongan, heavy rains triggered a devastating landslide, blocking a major road and burying homes.

In Indonesia, rescuers continue to search for survivors after a landslide in the country’s Central Java province killed at least 19 people.

Torrential rain in Pekalongan caused it to slip on Tuesday on the main road connecting the city to the tourist area, on the Dieng Plateau.

Images shared by local media showed the affected road and buried houses, rice paddies covered in mud, debris and rocks.

Because the road was impassable, rescuers had to walk about four kilometers (2.5 miles) to reach the scene. An excavator was brought in to clear the landslide as heavy rain and fog hampered rescue efforts.

“A joint search and rescue team was able to find and evacuate two bodies on Wednesday morning. The number of deaths recorded this afternoon is 19,” said Abdul Muhari, the spokesperson of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

“The two bodies found this morning are among the missing persons in the tragic incident.”

Search and rescue agency Basarnas said on Wednesday that 13 people were also injured.

Local official Muhammad Yulian Akbar said that heavy equipment was deployed to clear the road access for the search teams and about 200 rescue personnel were dispatched to assist in the rescue efforts.

“The focus is on looking for victims,” ​​he said, adding that the local government had declared a state of emergency in the district for two weeks.

The images shared by the disaster agency showed rescuers carrying victims in body bags on bamboo stretchers under thick fog.

The agency warned residents that rain is expected over the next few days, which could lead to more landslides and flooding.

Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, usually between November and April, but in recent years some disasters caused by inclement weather have occurred outside of that season.

10 people died in December floods It hit the mountainous villages of Java on the country’s main island.