Indonesia landfill collapse kills five
The collapse took place after hours of heavy rain in the area, local media reported.
Rescuers inspect the site of an avalanche of garbage that killed multiple people as heavy machines are used to search for victims at a landfill in Bantargebang, West Java, Indonesia, on Mar 9, 2026. (Photo: The Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency via AP)
JAKARTA: A landslide on Indonesia's biggest landfill buried trucks and food stalls, killing five people, rescuers said on Monday (Mar 9) as they searched for at least four more reported missing.
The landslide struck at 2.30pm on Sunday (3.30pm Singapore time) at Bantargebang, a landfill just 25km outside the capital, according to the national search and rescue agency.
"The rescuers are opening access using heavy equipment like backhoes and deploying tracking dogs to search for any indication of victims," the agency said in a statement.
The collapse took place after hours of heavy rain in the area, local media reported.
More than 300 search-and-rescue personnel, using heavy machinery and sniffer dogs, were deployed to the sprawling dump site late on Sunday at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Treatment Facility in Bekasi, said the head of Jakarta's Search and Rescue Office Desiana Kartika Bahari.
Rescuers worked cautiously amid unstable heaps of waste, she added.
She said the victims included two garbage truck drivers and two food stall sellers who had been working or resting near the landfill, while four people managed to escape the disaster.
“We had not ruled out the possibility of more victims,” she said. “We are still gathering data to confirm how many vehicles and workers were caught beneath the debris.”
Photos and videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed excavators digging through the collapsed mound, where several garbage trucks and small food stalls were buried.
The National Disaster Management Agency's spokesperson, Abdul Muhari, urged strict safety protocols during the ongoing search, noting that weather forecasts for the next two days indicate potential rain across Jakarta and its nearby satellite cities.
He warned that the unstable collapsed material could trigger additional ground movement, putting rescue teams at further risk.
Jakarta and its satellite cities, collectively known as Jabodetabek, are home to about 42 million people and generate an estimated 14,000 tonnes of waste daily.
Bantargebang, one of the world's largest open landfills, sprawls over more than 110 hectares and holds about 55 million tonnes of trash, according to a local environment agency official.
Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq pointed the finger at local authorities for allowing the accumulation of garbage despite a 2008 ban on open landfills.
"Bantargebang belongs to the Jakarta administration, so they have to take responsibility," Hanif told broadcaster Kompas TV late Sunday while visiting the disaster site.
"This incident must truly serve as a bitter lesson for us so that Jakarta can promptly make improvements."
The Jakarta environmental agency did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comments.
President Prabowo Subianto said last month that most of Indonesia's landfills, which are being gradually phased out, would exceed their capacity by 2028.
The government will invest US$3.5 billion in a project to build 34 waste-to-energy sites within two years that would incinerate garbage to produce electricity, he said.
A landfill landslide killed 143 people in West Java in 2005, triggered by a methane gas explosion and heavy rain in the area.
