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Sunday, February 08, 2026 | Daily Newspaper published by GPPC Doha, Qatar.

Tag Results for "landslide" (6 articles)

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looks out the window as she flies over the Sicilian town of Niscemi, parts of which have been left standing on the edge of a cliff after a landslide triggered by a storm, Italy, January 28, 2026. (REUTERS)
International

Fear in Sicilian town as vast landslide risks widening

Gaetano Ferrera had just a few minutes to grab belongings from his home, one of hundreds evacuated after a landslide in Sicily that experts warn could worsen due to heavy rainfall."Being left without anything is bad, it's bad. I've been here ever since I was a child," said Ferrera, visibly emotional as he locked the door behind him.Ferrera and his family, including two 16-year-old daughters and elderly parents, have no idea whether they will ever be able to return.The house sits in an area of Niscemi declared a "red zone" - and therefore off limits - after a four-kilometre (2.5-mile) long stretch of the hillside collapsed on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of some 1,500 people.The town, built on unstable terrain, was battered by a powerful storm which hit southern Italy last week.Though there were no deaths or injuries, experts say the gulf could extend - and topple more houses - when it rains again.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Wednesday, flying by helicopter over the gashed hillside and deep fissures in fields below.She promised quick help, pointing to long delays in compensation from a previous large landslide in the same town in 1997.Speaking to local officials after visiting the site, she said it still remained to be seen how many people would be "permanently displaced because the landslide is still moving".Landslide still active"We need to wait for the rains to stop and for the soil moisture to decrease", Luigi D'Angelo, the Civil Protection Agency's head of emergency management, told AFP.He said "heavy rain" was forecast in the coming days.Rubble from a few homes destroyed by the landslide could be seen at the bottom of the cliff, "and there's a risk that another 20m or so could fall, impacting other homes", he said.The agency is using drones to monitor the red zone and satellite images to assess the speed of the landslide.As locals watched a darkening sky, police patrolled streets empty of all but stray cats, while emergency services stood on standby on the edge of the red zone.Niscemi, home to some 25,000 people and built on sandstone and clay, suffered a landslide in the same area nearly 30 years ago, and residents said this week's disaster had been long in the making.Geologist Giuseppe Amato, head of water resources in Sicily for Legambiente, told AFP the landslide should serve as a warning as climate change leads to increasing weather extremes."Niscemi is another alarm bell... we must respond by changing our habits" and "choosing not to build in certain ways and in certain places"."In 2025 alone, Sicily has been hit by 48 exceptional weather events", from wind and rain to extreme heat, showing the Mediterranean island is "a hot spot for climate change in all respects", he said.According to Italy's Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), over one million Italians live in areas classed as "high or very high risk" for landslides.'Land simply dropped away'Rosario Cona, 45, a farmhand, told AFP that on Sunday "the land simply dropped away"."We watch houses falling, this is normality for us," he said.Unlike 29 years ago, though, "we have to take responsibility", he said. "The time for sleepwalking is over."As a mobile kitchen readied hot meals for evacuees, Cona said Niscemi's future was uncertain -- but he for one would never leave.His family may not return to their home, just one row back from the cliff edge, but Cona said he would build a new one if necessary."I was born here, and I will die here", he said. 

Gulf Times
International

Landslide in Indonesia kills 7, injures 82

Seven people were killed and 82 others went missing today after a landslide struck an area of West Java province in Indonesia following heavy rainfall.A Spokesperson for Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said in a press statement that the landslide hit a village in the West Bandung area, noting an increase in the number of missing persons. He added that teams were intensifying search and rescue efforts in a bid to find survivors. 

Indonesian rescue members search for victims at the site of a landslide, which hit Cibeunying village in Cilacap, Central Java province, Indonesia.
International

Death toll from Indonesia landslide rises to 11

A landslide on Indonesia’s Java island has killed at least 11 people, an official said Saturday, updating a previous tally as rescuers scrambled to find 12 others who are still missing. The landslide, caused by heavy rainfall, hit three villages in Central Java province on Thursday, burying some houses and damaging others.“As of Saturday afternoon, the number of victims who were found dead is 11, while 12 more are still being searched for,” local search and rescue chief Muhammad Abdullah told AFP. More than 700 personnel from the search and rescue office, military and police as well as volunteers were involved in the operation. A spokesman for the national disaster agency had previously reported that two bodies were found on Thursday. Another was recovered on Friday and eight more on Saturday, according to Abdullah.The government has deployed excavators and tracking dogs to assist the search. The national weather service had warned earlier this week of extreme conditions that could cause hydrometeorological disasters, with heavy rainfall expected across several regions on Indonesia in the coming weeks. The annual monsoon season, typically between November and April, often brings landslides, flash floods and water-borne diseases. Climate change has impacted storm patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, resulting in heavier rainfall, flash flooding and stronger wind gusts. Earlier in November, flash floods and landslides in a remote area of Papua killed at least 15 people.

Gulf Times
International

Six dead, 17 missing in landslide in Indonesia

A landslide in Central Java Province, Indonesia, has resulted in the death of six people and the disappearance of 17 others, following prolonged heavy rainfall that softened the soil and caused it to slide.Budi Irawan, an official at Indonesia's disaster management agency, stated that the landslide, which occurred in the Cibinong area, buried dozens of homes.He reported that rescue teams had found three more bodies, bringing the total number of confirmed fatalities to six, while 17 others remain missing.Budi explained that search operations are facing major challenges due to the depth of the debris, which ranges between three and eight meters, slowing down the rescue teams' access to potential victims.Indonesia's Meteorological Agency indicated that the rainy season, which began last September and continues until next April, increases the risk of floods and landslides in several regions of the country.The city of Pekalongan in Central Java witnessed a similar landslide caused by flash floods last January, resulting in the deaths of at least 25 people.

Gulf Times
International

Fifteen killed in landslide in northern India

At least 15 people were killed due to a landslide caused by heavy rains that swept away their bus in northern India. Local authorities reported that the accident occurred in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, noting that rescue workers and villagers at the scene are continuing to search for survivors. Last week's heavy rains caused landslides and floods in Darjeeling, northeastern India, destroying approximately 5% of the region's famous tea plantations. The floods also washed away numerous roads, destroyed more than 500 homes, and killed at least 36 people in the area.

This handout image made available by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM), Tuesday, shows people inspecting the debris after a landslide devastated the village of Tarasin in Sudan's Jebel Marra area.
Region

Plea for help after landslide wipes out Sudan village, killing 1,000

An armed group that controls part of western Sudan appealed Tuesday for foreign help in recovering bodies and rescuing residents from torrential rain, after it said at least 1,000 people were killed when a landslide buried a mountain village.Only one person survived the destruction of the village of Tarseen in the mountainous Jebel Marra area of the Darfur region, said the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army.SLM/A, which has long controlled and governed an autonomous portion of Jebel Marra, appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies to help collect the bodies of victims, including men, women and children."Tarseen, famed for its citrus production, has now been completely levelled to the ground," the group said in a statement. Continuing rains have made travel in the region difficult and could impede any rescue or aid efforts."Nearby villagers are overwhelmed with fear that a similar fate might befall them if the ... torrential rainfall persists, which underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive evacuation plan and provision of emergency shelter," the group's leader, Abdelwahid Mohamed Nur, said in a separate appeal.A statement by the UN's resident co-ordinator put the death toll at between 300 and 1,000, citing local reports.Arjimand Hussain, regional response manager for the development group Plan International, said the last 45km of the route to Tarseen were impassable to motor vehicles and could only be negotiated on foot or by donkey.Nine bodies were recovered by volunteers, said Abdelhafiz Ali from the Jebel Marra Emergency Room, who noted that the village had hosted hundreds of people displaced by fighting.The SLM/A has remained neutral in the battle between the main enemies in Sudan's civil war, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two foes are fighting over control of Al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur state, which is under siege from the RSF and has suffered famine.Residents of Al-Fashir and nearby areas have sought shelter in Jebel Marra, though food, shelter, and medical supplies are insufficient and hundreds of thousands have been exposed to the rains. Tawila, where most have arrived, is in the throes of a cholera outbreak, as are other parts of Darfur.The two-year civil war has left more than half of Sudan's population facing crisis levels of hunger and driven millions from their homes, leaving them especially exposed to the country's damaging annual floods.Sudan's army-controlled government expressed its condolences and willingness to assist.The prime minister of a newly-installed RSF-controlled rival government, Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, said he would be co-ordinating with the SLM/A on the delivery of aid supplies to the area.Pope Leo sent his condolences and said he was praying for those affected, according to a Vatican statement.