Landslides and floods triggered by heavy rain have left more than 120 people dead or missing on the Indonesian island of Java today.
As rescuers struggled to pull out bodies buried under thick mud, officials said thousands of people were homeless after their houses were submerged by floods or buried by landslides in villages near the Bengawan Solo river.
About 40 people were missing after floods swept away a bridge in Madiun district in East Java province yesterday, a local police officer said.
In neighbouring Central Java province, about 1,000 rescuers, police and soldiers tried to unearth 26 people buried in mud from steep slopes in Tawangmangu, a hilly area that has been hardest hit by landslides on Java.
Rescuers had to use manual equipment, spraying the mud with water to soften it. "We are only left with basic tools, such as spades and ploughs, yet we face a 7-to 9-metre blanket of mud," local police chief Rikwanto said.
Workers pulled out 12 more bodies today, bringing the confirmed death toll to 48, said Heru Pratomo, head of the disaster relief agency in Karang Anyar.
Another body was found and 14 were still missing in two neighbouring districts, rescue officials said.
Floods as high as two metres also struck Central Java's Ngawi district, leaving three people dead and trapping families on the roofs of their houses, Elshinta radio reported.
Landslides and floods are frequent in Indonesia, where tropical downpours can quickly soak hillsides and years of deforestation often mean there is little vegetation to hold the soil.
Chalid Muhammad, director of Indonesia's leading environmental group Walhi, said the government had not done enough to prevent the disasters.
"For five consecutive years landslides and floods have occurred in Java, claiming many lives. The main trigger is ecological destruction caused by deforestation, forest conversions and chaotic spatial planning," Mr Chalid said.