landslide occurs in W. Indonesia

A landslide happened again on Sunday at the location where rescuers were searching for dozens of victims of an earlier landlside that took place on April 1 in western Indonesia, forcing authorities to halt the search operation and evacuate hundreds, a disaster agency official said.

Four bodies have been discovered so far and 25 others remain missing in Banaran village of Ponorogo district in East Java province, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the national disaster agency.

The follow-up landslide took place at 12:30 p.m. local time, burying one person, two houses and two vehicles, as well as sweeping away two other persons, the spokesman said.

"All searching activities are temporarily terminated today (Sunday)...all the villagers living near the location have been displaced to safer place," Sutopo told Xinhua via phone.

The number of displaced persons surpassed 270 people, according to him.

Communication access in the affected-areas was cut, said Sutopo.

source: Xinhua