Ten dead, two missing, in landslide in Indonesia's Java

JAKARTA (AFP) - Ten people were killed and two others were missing after a landslide triggered by heavy rain hit Indonesia's main island of Java, an official said Sunday.

The landslide took place in Tegal Panjang village in Sukabumi district in west Java late Saturday after a particularly heavy downpour, according to national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

"Ten bodies were found... and we are still looking for two others missing," he said in an update, revising up the earlier death toll of six and four missing.

He said the landslide had taken place suddenly during a heavy rain, causing a cliff to collapse and hit the village.

Eleven houses were also buried under the debris.

Landslides triggered by heavy rains and floods are common in tropical Indonesia during the rainy season.

The national disaster agency estimates around half the country's 250 million population lives in areas prone to landslides.

The vast Indonesian archipelago is one of the most natural disaster-prone nations on Earth, and is also frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

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