Bodies of 3-year-old girl and her mother recovered after Indonesian landslides that killed 20

RESCUERS recovered the bodies of a 3-year-old girl and her mother, the last victims still missing after landslides killed 20 on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island, authorities said Tuesday, April 16, 2024.

The steep, muddy terrain blocked heavy equipment from coming in, forcing rescuers to dig through the mud with handheld tools. At least 20 search and rescue officers took part in the search, as well as dozens of residents.

Mud loosened by torrential rain poured from surrounding hills onto four houses Saturday at South Makale village in the Tana Toraja district of South Sulawesi province, said local police chief Gunardi Mundu. He said a family gathering was being held in one of the houses when the landslide hit.

The last two victims were found late Tuesday afternoon as heavy rains continued. Rescuers carried them away, wrapped in orange body bags, across a dark and rainy field with the help of torches.

Dozens of soldiers, police and volunteers joined the search in the remote hillside villages of Makale and South Makale, Mundu said. Rescuers early Sunday managed to pull out two injured people, including an 8-year-old girl, and rushed them to a hospital.

Tana Toraja has many popular tourist attractions, including traditional houses and wooden statues of bodies buried in caves, known as tau-tau.

Seasonal downpours cause frequent landslides and floods in Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or fertile flood plains. (AP)