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SIJERUK, Indonesia, Jan 5 (AFP): Rescuers searched through thick mud Thursday for up to 200 people buried in a landslide that flattened a village in Indonesia's Central Java province, but hopes of finding survivors were fading.
Officials said 34 bodies have been recovered but scores more remain buried following Wednesday's landslide, triggered by heavy rains.
Among the bodies unearthed by rescuers on Thursday was that of a woman holding her child. "The possibility of finding survivors is almost nil," Mulyanto, a soldier assisting in the rescue efforts in the village of Sijeruk, told the news agency.
Banjarnegara district deputy chief Hadi Supeno told reporters at the scene that an estimated 142 people were buried when the landslide struck, meaning around 100 bodies have still to be found.
Search coordinator Arif Sudaryanto put the likely toll higher, estimating that about 160 people were still under the mud.
More than 400 rescuers used backhoes and hand tools to dig into the deep wall of mud as residents from neighbouring hamlets watched and waited for news of their relatives.
Meanwhile, Australia pledged Thursday 200,000 dollars (150,000 US dollars) in aid for the survivors of deadly floods and landslides which have hit the Indonesia island of Java.
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