5 dead, 60 buried by Indonesian landslide

Jakarta: A rain-triggered landslide Tuesday at a tea plantation on Indonesia's main island of Java killed at least five workers and buried at least 60 others, police said.

No heavy earth-moving equipment was available in the area, so villagers were digging through tons of dislodged mud with farm tools and their bare hands in a search for survivors, police Chief Lt. Col. Imron Yunus said.

The landslide occurred at a tea plantation near the mountainous village of Tenjoljaya in the Ciwidey district after days of heavy rain, he said.

Yunus said more than 60 people remained under the mud and debris, which covered at least 50 houses near the Perkebunan Teh Dewata tea plantation.

Yunus said five bodies had been pulled from the mud.