Rescue teams on Java have raised the confirmed death toll from recent rain-triggered landslides to 23, with 28 people still missing. Teams using nearly two dozen excavators recovered bodies in Cilacap and another part of Central Java, while more than 500 personnel search after a major slide in Banjarnegara that buried at least 54 houses. Authorities plan to relocate 296 homes and will provide families awaiting housing with 600,000 rupiah per month. Seasonal downpours continue to pose a high risk across Indonesia.
Java Landslides Kill 23; 28 Still Missing as Rescue Crews Continue Search
Rescue teams on Java have raised the confirmed death toll from recent rain-triggered landslides to 23, with 28 people still missing. Teams using nearly two dozen excavators recovered bodies in Cilacap and another part of Central Java, while more than 500 personnel search after a major slide in Banjarnegara that buried at least 54 houses. Authorities plan to relocate 296 homes and will provide families awaiting housing with 600,000 rupiah per month. Seasonal downpours continue to pose a high risk across Indonesia.
08:54 AM, 11/20/2025Environment
Rescuers continued recovering bodies and searching for survivors after heavy rains triggered multiple landslides on Java, Indonesia's main island, raising the confirmed death toll to 23 while 28 people remain unaccounted for, officials said.
Rescue operations under way
Abdul Muhari, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said teams using nearly two dozen excavators dug through thick mud and rubble in the Cilacap district of Central Java and recovered four bodies on Wednesday. The toll in Cilacap is now 20, with three people still missing there. In another part of Central Java, rescuers recovered an additional body, bringing that area's toll to three.
"More than 500 rescue personnel have been deployed to search affected areas, including Banjarnegara, where one landslide buried dozens of houses," Muhari said.
Banjarnegara and displaced communities
Authorities say a separate landslide in Banjarnegara district on Saturday buried at least 54 houses and forced nearly 1,000 residents into government shelters. About 25 people were reported missing after that event, contributing to the total of 28 missing across affected areas.
Relocation and aid for affected families
Local officials announced plans to relocate 296 houses from landslide-prone zones within six months. While awaiting new homes, each affected family will receive monthly compensation of 600,000 rupiah (about $36).
Agency images and eyewitness reports show green terraced rice fields transformed into murky mud, with rescue crews and excavators working to remove debris, uprooted trees and rocks to reach buried homes.
Seasonal downpours regularly trigger floods and landslides across Indonesia's archipelago of some 17,000 islands, where many communities live on steep slopes or fertile flood plains. Authorities urged residents in vulnerable areas to follow evacuation orders and stay clear of unstable slopes as search-and-rescue operations continue.