Rescuers on Indonesia's main island of Java recovered additional victims on Sunday after improved weather allowed teams to dig through mud and debris following a predawn landslide that struck the slopes of Mount Burangrang in West Java.
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers search for victims in Pasir Langu village after a landslide, in West Bandung district of West Java province, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (BASARNAS via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The slide, which hit Pasir Langu village before dawn on Saturday, buried roughly 34 homes. Authorities said 72 people remained unaccounted for on Sunday and are feared trapped beneath tons of mud, rocks and uprooted trees. About 230 residents who lived near the site were moved to government shelters.
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers search for victims in Pasir Langu village after a landslide, in West Bandung district of West Java province, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (BASARNAS via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A 250-member search team recovered human remains, including body parts placed in 14 body bags, bringing the total recovered to 25, according to Ade Dian Permana, head of the local search and rescue office. He said the remains will be released to relatives after forensic identification.
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers search for victims in Pasir Langu village after a landslide, in West Bandung district of West Java province, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (BASARNAS via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Video released by the rescue agency showed workers using farm tools and their bare hands to extract victims from the muck. Permana said unstable ground on the slope prevented heavy machinery from being used; some mud mounds were estimated to be as high as 5 meters (16 feet).
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), an aerial shot taken using a drone shows an area affected by landslides in Pasir Langu village, in West Bandung district of West Java province, Indonesia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (BASARNAS via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
"Our teams must move carefully," Permana said. "Some homes are buried up to the roof level."
Mohammad Syafii, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, said crews were also employing drones and K-9 units to search a landslide track that stretched more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). Rescue officials warned operations would continue around the clock as long as conditions permit but cautioned that further rain could destabilize the slope and hamper recovery efforts.
Visiting the scene, Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka pledged the government would act to prevent similar tragedies and urged West Bandung district officials to address land conversion in disaster-prone areas and enforce land-use rules to reduce future risk.
Environmental Concerns and Broader Risk
Environmental campaigners and local activists say the disaster was worsened by years of environmental degradation and illegal land conversion in the North Bandung Area (KBU), a conservation zone of about 38,543 hectares that serves as a crucial water-catchment and buffer for the densely populated Bandung Basin. Wahyudin Iwang of Walhi West Java described the slide as an outcome of long-standing failures to enforce spatial-planning regulations.
"This landslide is the accumulation of activities that were not in line with spatial planning and environmental functions," Iwang said.
At a makeshift relief center, villagers waited for news and consulted updated lists of the missing. Authorities said recovery and relief operations continue, but emphasized the search is dangerous and progress depends on weather and slope stability. Seasonal rains from October to April regularly increase the risk of floods and landslides across Indonesia's mountainous and floodplain regions.
