Indonesian rescuers comb debris for landslide victims

Indonesian rescuers are struggling with mounds of mud, debris and water?soaked ground as they search for dozens still missing after a landslide triggered by torrential rains killed at least 11 people.

The predawn landslide roared down the slopes of Mount Burangrang in West Java province on Saturday, burying some 34 houses in Pasir Langu village.

On Sunday, 79 people remained missing, many feared buried under tons of mud, rocks and uprooted trees.

About 230 residents living near the site have been evacuated to temporary government shelters.

Rescue workers retrieved two more bodies on Sunday morning, bringing the death toll to 11, according to Ade Dian Permana from the search and rescue office.

Videos released on Saturday by the country's search and rescue agency, known as Basarnas, showed rescuers using farm tools and their bare hands to pull a mud-caked body from the ground.

Heavy equipment and excavators were mostly idle because the ground was too soft and unstable.

"If the slope does not stabilise; crews are prepared to continue manually," Permana said, estimating the height of the mounds of mud to be up to five metres.

"Some homes are buried up to the roof level," he said.

Visiting the area on Sunday, Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka said authorities would take measures to prevent similar disasters.

He urged the local authorities in West Java and West Bandung to "address the issue of land conversion in disaster-prone areas", including ways to reduce risks.

Basarnas chief Mohammad Syafii visited the devastated Pasir Langu village with Gibran and said the terrain condition and bad weather continued to complicate search operations on Sunday.

"We are at the mercy of the weather, and the slide is still mud ... flowing and unstable," Syafii said.

"With the area this wide, we'll use every asset we have ... drones, K?9 teams and ground units, but safety comes first."

Seasonal rains and high tides from about October to April frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.