Waste mound collapse at Indonesia's largest landfill kills at least 5 and leaves several missing

Officials say a massive avalanche of garbage at Indonesia’s largest landfill has killed at least five people and left several others missing after heavy overnight rain triggered the collapse

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A massive avalanche of garbage at Indonesia’s largest landfill killed at least five people and left several others missing after heavy overnight rain triggered a rubbish dump collapse, officials said Monday.

More than 300 search-and-rescue personnel, using heavy machinery and sniffer dogs, were deployed to the sprawling dump site late Sunday at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Treatment Facility in Bekasi, a city just outside the capital of Jakarta. Rescuers worked cautiously amid unstable heaps of waste, said Desiana Kartika Bahari, who heads Jakarta's Search and Rescue Office.

She said the victims included two garbage truck drivers and two food stall sellers who had been working or resting near the landfill, while four people managed to escape the disaster. Rescuers, including police, soldiers and volunteers, were still searching for at least three people reported missing, Bahari said.

“We had not ruled out the possibility of more victims,” she said, “We are still gathering data to confirm how many vehicles and workers were caught beneath 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.