Twenty three Indonesian marines died after landslides swept through a military training site in West Java, burying troops preparing for border patrol deployment.
The landslide struck Pasir Langu village in Bandung Barat early on Saturday after days of heavy rain had saturated steep hillsides. The marines were taking part in training to patrol the border with Papua New Guinea when large mounds of earth and debris collapsed onto the site, the Indonesian navy said.
“The incident occurred due to extreme weather conditions with heavy rainfall, which caused a landslide at the training site,” First Admiral Tunggul, a navy spokesperson, said. He confirmed that all 23 marines caught in the landslide had died.
Rescue teams described chaotic conditions as mud, rocks and fallen trees buried the training area, leaving the soldiers trapped with little chance to escape. Photographs from the scene showed rescuers digging through thick brown sludge as excavators worked alongside military and police officers in rain-soaked conditions.
The military deaths are part of a larger disaster that has hit several communities in West Java, where landslides triggered by prolonged rainfall have killed at least 38 people, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. Authorities say dozens more remain missing, with identification efforts ongoing.
Abdul Muhari, a spokesperson for the agency, said as of Tuesday evening, 20 victims had been identified and handed over to their families, while the remaining bodies were still undergoing identification. It was not immediately clear whether all of the marines were included in the agency’s overall death toll.
At least 800 rescuers – including emergency workers, military personnel and police – have been deployed across the affected areas, supported by nine excavators to clear debris and expand the search zone. Muhari said 685 residents from the stricken village had been evacuated to government buildings and temporary shelters.
The landslides occurred in a hilly, mountainous part of West Java, around 100km southeast of Jakarta, where steep terrain and deforested slopes are particularly vulnerable during the wet season. Heavy rain had fallen for two consecutive nights before the collapse, saturating the ground and destabilising the hillside.
Local officials said the landslide struck without warning during the early hours of the morning, giving those at the training site little time to react. Rescue workers initially feared further collapses as rain continued to fall, forcing teams to repeatedly halt operations for safety reasons.
Families of both civilians and soldiers gathered near the site on Tuesday, waiting for news as heavy machinery continued to dig through the debris. Authorities warned that unstable ground and further rainfall could slow operations and increase dangers for rescuers.
The disaster comes during the peak of Indonesia’s rainy season, which typically runs from October to March and regularly brings floods and landslides to densely populated areas of Java. Flooding has hit several parts of the country in recent weeks, including Jakarta and cities across West Java and Central Java.
The West Java landslides follow a series of deadly weather-related disasters across Indonesia. Just two months ago, cyclone-triggered floods and landslides on the island of Sumatra killed about 1,200 people, destroyed thousands of homes and displaced more than a million residents.
Indonesia’s geography and climate make it particularly prone to such disasters. The country experiences intense seasonal rainfall, which, combined with rapid development, hillside construction and deforestation, increases the risk of landslides in many regions.
