Rescuers searched for survivors Friday after a landslide crashed into a village in central Indonesia, killing five people and burying at least 10 others, AP quoted a disaster official as saying. Hundreds of frightened residents were moved to safety. Mud came tumbling down from hills surrounding Nyalindung, a village in West Java province, following days of torrential rain that inundated more than 50 homes, said Rustam Pakaya of the Disaster Crisis Center. Many roads were flooded and covered with sludge, making it hard for heavy machinery to reach the disaster zone, he said. Residents were helping in the search for survivors, most digging with their bare hands or using farm tools. Pakaya said five bodies had been recovered, but 10 other people were missing and feared dead, many of them children. Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, a vast chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains. Rain in Nyalindung showed no sign of letting up Friday, prompting authorities to relocate more than 300 villagers to nearby schools and government buildings, el-Shinta radio reported.
