JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A massive garbage collapse at Indonesia’s largest landfill killed at least five people and left many missing after heavy rain overnight triggered a collapse, officials said Monday.
More than 300 search and rescue personnel using heavy machinery and sniffer dogs were deployed to the massive dump at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Treatment Facility in Bekasi city on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta on Sunday evening. Desiana Kartika Bahari, head of Jakarta’s search and rescue office, said rescuers were working carefully among the unstable debris.
She said the victims included two garbage truck drivers and two food stall vendors who were working or resting near the landfill, while four others managed to escape the disaster. Bahari said rescue workers, including police, soldiers and volunteers, were still searching for at least three missing people.
“We have not ruled out the possibility of more victims,” she said. “We are still collecting data to confirm how many vehicles and workers are trapped under the rubble.”
Photos and videos released by the national search and rescue agency showed excavators digging in the collapsed mound, where several garbage trucks and small food stalls were buried.
National Disaster Management Authority spokesman Abdul Muhari urged strict compliance with safety protocols during the ongoing search, noting that weather forecasts for the next two days showed possible rain in Jakarta and nearby satellite cities.
He warned that unstable collapsing material could trigger additional ground movements, putting rescue teams at further risk.
Sunday’s fatal collapse has reignited scrutiny of Bantargebang, a critical but overwhelmed landfill that receives much of Greater Jakarta’s daily household waste. The plant has faced repeated capacity warnings, prompting national efforts to overhaul Indonesia’s waste management system.
In January, a similar collapse of garbage and debris occurred at a landfill in the Philippines, resulting in workers being buried or trapped in low-rise buildings. At least four people died, a dozen were injured, and more than 30 people were missing.
In 2005, a 7-meter (23-foot) high garbage dump collapsed due to heavy rains in two West Java villages near the Indonesian city of Bandung, triggering a landslide that buried or damaged 60 houses, killing 31 people and leaving dozens missing.
Late last year, the government announced a two-year deadline to clean up Bantagang by accelerating waste-to-energy projects, aiming to reduce chronic overreliance on open dumping. The initiative, backed by new presidential regulations designed to simplify permitting and encourage investment, calls for converting waste into electricity or heat.
