Indonesia says 7 killed in landfill collapse as rescue operation ends

The casualties were truck drivers and owners of food stalls at the landfill site. Read more at straitstimes.com.

JAKARTA – Indonesian authorities have ended rescue operations at a landfill collapse that killed seven people as all those who were at the site have been accounted for, an official said on March 10.

A mountain of garbage collapsed on March 8 at the Bantargebang landfill, the largest in the country, triggered by heavy rain.

Rescuers wrapped up the search operation at the site on the outskirts of Jakarta, after finding the last of seven victims buried in the landfill, said Ms Desiana Kartika Bahari, head of the local rescue agency. Six people survived the incident.

On March 9, the agency had said that four people were killed, four had survived and five were still missing.

"We received information from police that two among those missing were safe and had returned to their homes," Ms Bahari said.

The casualties were truck drivers and owners of food stalls at the landfill site, she said.