JAKARTA - TWO people were killed and two others injured when they were buried alive as an irrigation ditch collapsed on Indonesia's main Java island, reports said on Friday.

The villagers were buried while a work crew of around 40 people were digging the ditch in Adikarto village near the Central Java town of Magelang, state news agency Antara reported.

Rescuers used mechanical excavation equipment to retrieve the bodies of the two workers.

Landslides are frequent in Indonesia during the wet season, which occurs during the northern winter. -- AFP