Rescuers Hand Over 25 Body Bags After West Bandung Landslide

Bandung: A joint search and rescue (SAR) team has handed over 25 body bags containing victims of a deadly landslide in Cisarua Sub-district, West Bandung, as efforts continue to locate dozens of people still believed to be buried under mud and debris.

Head of the Bandung SAR Office Ade Dian said on Sunday that search operations were halted for the second consecutive day at 4:00 p.m. local time due to heavy rain and would resume on Monday. An estimated 65 people remain missing.

“We stopped operations at 4:00 p.m. because of unfavorable weather and will continue tomorrow. So far, 25 body bags have been handed over to the National Police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team,” Dian said, as quoted from Antara, Monday 26 January 2026.

Sunday’s search focused on locations where victims had previously been detected, with joint SAR personnel working alongside local residents to accelerate evacuation efforts.

“The bodies were found in sectors A and B, mostly in areas A1, A2, and B1, based on information from the field,” he said, adding that residents reported many victims were located in those areas.

According to Dian, the DVI team has identified 11 victims so far, comprising 10 intact bodies and one set of partial remains.

Search operations were briefly suspended earlier in the day after a secondary landslide occurred. “There was a landslide triggered by a crack at the crown of the slope, forcing us to halt operations for about 30 minutes. After field assessments at 10:30 a.m., we resumed the search at 11:00 a.m.,” he said.

Unstable ground conditions and persistent rainfall remain the main challenges for rescue teams operating at the site. For Monday’s operations, Dian said the SAR team would expand search points into more difficult terrain and deploy additional equipment to speed up recovery efforts.

“During the second day, we deployed heavy equipment. Three more units will be added tomorrow, bringing the total to six,” he said.

He added that coordination with the DVI team would continue to ensure recovered victims are promptly identified and returned to their families.

The landslide struck Cisarua earlier this week following days of heavy rainfall, burying homes and triggering a large-scale emergency response involving police, military personnel, and volunteers.

Authorities have urged residents in surrounding areas to remain alert, warning that continued rainfall could trigger further landslides.