Java Island Village Covered by Six Meter High Mud

The Cijeruk village in the Java Island was engulfed yesterday by a torrent of rock and mud, 21 losing their lives and leaving other 200 missing, Reuters informed.

"There were more than 100 families living at the buried area and if we say each family has three members, 300 could be buried if all of them were there," Irman Rachman, head of disaster management at the Indonesian Red Cross, told Reuters.

"Hopefully, some were out of the village when it happened," Mr. Rachman added.

A Cijeruk farmer depicted scenes of horror with dozens of his neighbors being swallowed by the torrent while screaming „God is great!".
"I saw them buried alive," he told the AP.

Although environmentalists said that landslides were caused by excessive logging of the hills in the area, for yesterday's incident, the six meter high mud was triggered from an area with thick forests.

According to the Washington Post, Indonesian television footage showed residents shoveling frantically to uncover victims from the mud while others dug with their bare hands.

The authorities managed to bring to the disaster area two excavators and two bulldozers.

The Cijeruk torrent comes three days after the flooding and landslides in the Jember province, in the eastern part of the island, which has killed 57 persons and has left thousands without homes.