Indonesia landslide death toll reaches 32: official

Indonesia landslide death toll reaches 32: official
More than 30 people were killed by a landslide in Indonesia, authorities have announced on Monday.
1 min read
07 January, 2019
Indonesia is prone to natural disasters [Getty]

At least 32 people were killed by a landslide in Indonesia on New Year's Eve, authorities said Monday as they ended a week-long search for missing victims.

Rescuers who have been pulling bodies from mountains of mud called off the search with one person still unaccounted for after heavy rains triggered the deadly slides in West Java province.

Several others were injured in the December 31 disaster.

"The search has wrapped up," said West Java police chief Agung Budi Maryoto.

"Just one victim has not yet been found and the family has accepted it."

Landslides are common in Indonesia, a vast tropical archipelago prone to natural disasters and torrential downpours. 

More than 20 people died in October when flash floods and landslides hit several provinces on Sumatra island, western Indonesia. 

The death toll from the twin disaster on Sulawesi island that erased whole suburbs in Palu has reached 1,944, said local military spokesman M. Thohir at the time.

In June 2016, nearly 50 people died when floods and landslides struck Central Java province.

Indonesia sits along the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.