At least 5 dead and several missing after waste pile collapses in Indonesia’s biggest landslide

Jakarta, Indonesia — A massive avalanche of debris killed at least five people in Indonesia’s biggest landslide and left several missing after heavy overnight rains caused a pile of debris to collapse, officials said on Monday.

More than 300 search and rescue personnel using heavy machinery and sniffer dogs were deployed late Sunday to the sprawling dump site at the Bantargebong Integrated Waste Treatment Facility in Bekasi, a city outside the capital Jakarta. Rescuers worked cautiously amid piles of unstable debris, said Desiana Kartika Bahari, head of Jakarta’s search and rescue office.

The victims included two garbage truck drivers and two food stall vendors who were either working or resting near the landfill, but four people escaped the disaster, he said. Rescuers, including police, soldiers and volunteers, are reportedly still searching for at least three others, Bahari said.

“We have not ruled out the possibility of more victims,” ​​he said, adding, “We are still collecting data to confirm how many vehicles and workers are trapped under the debris.”

Photos and videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed excavators digging through the collapsed mound, where several garbage trucks and small food stalls were buried.

Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, urged strict safety protocols during the ongoing search, adding that weather forecasts for the next two days indicated possible rain in Jakarta and its nearby satellite cities.

He warned that unstable collapsed material could trigger additional ground motion, putting rescue teams at further risk.

Sunday’s deadly collapse has renewed scrutiny of Buntergebang, a critical but sunken landfill that receives Greater Jakarta’s daily household waste. The site has faced repeated warnings about potential, prompting national efforts to overhaul Indonesia’s waste management system.

In January, a similar debris and debris fall in a landslide in the Philippines left workers buried or trapped in low-rise buildings, at least four people dead, a dozen injured and more than 30 people missing.

In 2005, 31 people died and dozens were missing after a 7-meter (23-foot) garbage dump collapsed after heavy rain triggered a landslide that buried or damaged 60 homes in two West Java villages near the Indonesian city of Bandung.

Late last year, the government announced a two-year deadline to clear Bantargebang through an accelerated waste-to-energy project aimed at reducing reliance on open dumping for a long time. The initiative, backed by a new presidential regulation, aims to streamline licensing and encourage investment, calling for the conversion of waste into electricity or thermal energy.