Indonesia searches for missing after landfill collapse kills four

JAKARTA, March 9 (Reuters) – Rescuers are still searching for five missing people after a large stack of garbage collapsed at Indonesia’s biggest landfill site over the weekend, killing at least four people, an official said on Monday.

The collapse took place at the Bantargebang landfill on Sunday, located in the region of Bekasi on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, said Desiana Kartika Bahari, head of the local rescue agency.

It was likely triggered by the heavy rain that hit the area from Saturday evening, she told Reuters.

“It was raining all day even from (Saturday) evening and the mountain of garbage was unstable,” Bahari said.

Some trucks were unloading garbage when the collapse took place, and there was also a food stall near the site.

“The missing people are the truck drivers and scavengers,” she said, adding that there there could be more people buried in the landfill.

Four people survived the accident.

More than 200 rescuers, including police and military personnel and 17 excavators, have been deployed since Monday morning to search for the missing.

Bantargebang covers around 110 hectares and receives around 6,500 tons-7,000 tons of garbage per day.

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by David Stanway)