Rescuers recovered more bodies buried under tons of mud from a landslide that crashed onto Indonesia, bringing the death toll to 21, according to officials on Thursday.
The National Search and Rescue Agency said in a statement that the landslide, triggered by torrential downpours, plunged down surrounding hills on Monday, burying 30 homes in Genting village on a tiny remote island in the Natuna archipelago at the edge of the South China Sea.
It added that authorities have deployed more than 200 rescuers from the search and rescue agency, police, and military to search for 33 people still missing who were apparently trapped in houses that were buried under the landslide, which was 4 meters (13 feet) deep.
National Disaster Management Agency chief Suharyanto stated on Thursday that 8 people were pulled out alive with injuries, three of whom are in critical condition.
They were rushed late Monday to a hospital in Pontianak city on Borneo island, about 300 km (186 miles) from Genting, but one person died at sea on the way.
Two helicopters and several vessels carrying rescuers, medical teams, and relief supplies, including tents, blankets, and food arrived on the island from Jakarta and nearby islands on Wednesday.
Monday’s landslide displaced about 1,300 people who were taken to four temporary shelters, Suharyanto said. Authorities feared the death toll could still rise.
Seasonal rains and high tides in recent days have caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains close to rivers.
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