7 Killed in Jakarta Landfill Collapse

Seven people have been confirmed dead after a massive landfill collapse near Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, authorities said.

The Jakarta Search and Rescue Agency reported that three bodies were recovered on Sunday and four more on Monday following the collapse at the Bantargebang landfill site.

The incident occurred Sunday afternoon at the landfill located about 25 kilometers outside Jakarta. The collapse buried trucks and food stalls under large piles of waste after hours of heavy rainfall in the area, according to local media reports.

Rescue teams launched an extensive search operation using excavators, tracking dogs and thermal drones. Authorities later confirmed that all missing individuals had been identified.

In response to continuing heavy rainfall, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency launched a weather modification operation aimed at reducing rainfall over the capital.

The program involves helicopters seeding clouds with sodium chloride to encourage rain to fall over the sea rather than above Jakarta.

The Greater Jakarta metropolitan region, known as Jabodetabek, is home to roughly 42 million people and produces an estimated 14,000 tons of waste every day.

The Bantargebang landfill, covering more than 110 hectares and containing about 55 million tons of garbage, is one of the largest open landfill sites in the world.

Last month, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto warned that many of the country’s landfill sites could exceed their capacity by 2028.

The government has announced plans to invest $3.5 billion in a project to build 34 waste-to-energy facilities over the next two years, designed to convert garbage into electricity.