Three Residents, Wild Elephant Killed in Sumatra Landslide
Monday, 05 October, 2009 | 09:21 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Heavy rains in Lampung Province have triggered landslide which killed three people in Tanggamus Regency and cut the Sumatra inter-provincial road in the western coast of the island on Sunday.

A hillside was heavily eroded by the rain and mudslide blocked the main inter-provincial road in Way Kerap Village in Semaka Tanggamus Subdistrict.

We diverted vehicles heading to Bengkulu through Bukit Kemuning in Northern Lampung,” Irwan Dhany, head of the Land Transport Division of the Transport Office of Lampung Province said.

There were two heavy equipments working to remove the mudslide off the road connecting Bandar Lampung and Kota Agung, and vehicles turned to head northward back to Bandar Lampung and forced to take the alternative road from through Kemuning – Liwa – Bengkulu.

Continuous rain since Friday has also overflowed Way Semaka River which flodded villages in two subdistricts of Semaka and Wonosobo in Tanggamus Regency. A resident in the area said forest in the river basin in Bukit Barisan National Park has probably been cut down.

One wild elephant was also killed by the mudslide in Tanggamus.

NUROCHMAN ARRAZIE