MAKALE, INDONESIA – A team of search and rescue personnel in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island reported the recovery of 18 bodies following devastating landslides, with two individuals still unaccounted for. The majority of the victims, 14 in total, were found in Makale village, while the remaining four were discovered in South Makale, according to the head of Makassar Search and Rescue.
The search for the two missing individuals continues, but progress has been hampered by adverse weather conditions, including fog and rain. The team continues to comb through the areas affected by the landslides, which occurred on the island of Sulawesi.
Mexianus Bekabel, the chief of Makassar Search and Rescue, detailed the recovery efforts, noting that the conditions have made the search for the remaining victims challenging. Sulaiman Malia, head of the Tana Toraja district Disaster Management Agency, echoed these sentiments, highlighting the difficulties faced by officers in the field.
The landslides were triggered by heavy rainfall, which caused mud to cascade from the surrounding hills onto four houses in the Tana Toraja district of South Sulawesi province. A family gathering was taking place in one of the houses at the time of the disaster, according to local police chief Gunardi Mundu.
Rescue efforts were carried out by a combination of soldiers, police, and volunteers in the remote hillside villages of Makale and South Makale. Despite the challenging conditions, rescuers were able to extract two injured individuals, including an 8-year-old girl, who were immediately transported to a nearby hospital.
Tana Toraja, known for its unique traditional houses and wooden statues of bodies buried in caves, is a popular tourist destination. However, Indonesia’s geography, which comprises a chain of 17,000 islands with many residents living in mountainous areas or fertile flood plains, makes it prone to frequent landslides and floods during the rainy season.