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One dead, 28 missing in Indonesia landslide

The military, police and volunteers are searching the area in the Ponorogo district, East Java, for the missing people
The military, police and volunteers are searching the area in the Ponorogo district, East Java, for the missing people

At least one person has been killed and 28 are feared buried after a landslide struck Indonesia, the national disaster agency said today.

A wall of mud slammed into houses from a hillside after heavy rainfall, damaging dozens of homes in the Ponorogo district, East Java, this morning.

Seventeen people were injured and sent for treatment to a local hospital, the national disaster agency spokesman said as the military, police and volunteers worked to search the area for the missing.

"We are still searching for 28 other missing people, but the search operation has ended for today. We will continue searching if the weather is good Sunday morning," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purno Nugroho said.

Indonesia landslide

Local people had evacuated the village after warnings from officials, staying elsewhere during the nights, but many had returned in the mornings to work on their farms harvesting ginger.

Indonesia is often hit by landslides.

Twelve people including three children died in a landslide on the holiday island of Bali last February.

In September, almost 30 people died in devastating floods and landslides in Garut, West Java.