Four children from Ilan Batu village head have been found dead, the brothers and sisters had dinner when they were buried in a landslide with their house

The search for the four brothers was carried out by the Basarnas team involving volunteers from Luwu Raya, TNI officers, Polri and residents, starting at 10:00 WITA, Monday afternoon. An hour later, at around 11:00 WITA, one victim named Muh Taufan was found buried in a landslide along with the rubble of his parents’ house which had collapsed under the landslide material.

Then, a few hours later, at around 15:00 WITA, three other victims were found dead. The three child victims of the village head of Ilan Batu who were found dead buried in the landslide were Imam, 8 years old, Ammang, 17 years old, and Furgon, 6 years old.

Isak cried as the family welcomed the bodies of the four siblings. Including Elnita Pakolo, wife of Deputy Regent of Luwu, Syukur Bijak.

Elnita Pakolo, who is no other than a relative near Kades Ilan Batu, said the floods and landslides occurred before Maghrib prayers, Sunday afternoon, October 3. At that time, four children of Kades Ilan Batu, Absul Salam, were at home. The four of them were having dinner.

At the time of the incident, his parents were not at home. “We are deeply saddened by the deaths of four victims. They are my close family,” said the wife of the Luwu Deputy Regent, sobbing.

With tears in her eyes, Elnita admitted that before the landslide hit Ilan Batu Village Head’s house, she had invited her four nephews to live with her. Incidentally on Saturday, they and their father came to visit his house in Batusitanduk.

“I asked them to stay at home for a few days, but they refused. He said he wanted to go home and feed the chicken,” he said.

According to Elnita, Ilan Batu village head Abdul Salam and his wife survived the landslide incident. Because, at the time of the incident, the husband and wife were not at home. The two were reportedly in the Batusitanduk area attending their family wedding.

Representing the Luwu Regency Government (Pemkab), Luwu Deputy Regent, Syukur Bijak, expressed his condolences for the deaths of four children of the village head of Ilan Batu in the landslide that hit the Ilan Batu Village area, last Sunday afternoon.

Syukur Bijak also expressed his gratitude to all parties who have been searching for the four brothers from the morning until they were found in the afternoon, starting with the Basarnas team, Luwu Raya volunteers, TNI officers, Polri, and the community.

“On behalf of the government, I would like to thank all those who worked hard to find the four victims, the children of the village head of Ilan Batu. We also offer our condolences to the families of the victims,” ​​said Syukur Bijak.

It was reported that the four children of the village head of Ilan Batu were safe. However, Monday (4/10/2021) yesterday morning, the Coordinator of the Basarnas Team, Primus Paembonan, denied the news. He ensured that the four children of the Ilan Batu village head were buried along with their house which collapsed in the landslide, so that his party, together with Luwu Raya volunteers and various parties, carried out a search.

The search was focused on the location of the family home of the Ilan Batu village head, where only the rubble collapsed by the landslide. The search yielded results, where the first victim was found named Muh Taufan, around 11:00 WITA.

Three other victims were also found dead, a few hours after excavation was carried out by a landslide that buried the victim’s house. “All the victims, as many as four people were found dead. It’s been evacuated,” Primus said. (hwn)

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