Nineteen members of Indonesia’s elite marine force are among 42 people missing after being swept away or buried by a deadly weekend landslide that tore through a mountainside in West Java province, officials said Monday. The marines were training in rugged terrain and heavy rainfall when Saturday’s predawn landslide swallowed their camp and some 34 houses in Pasir Langu village on the slopes of Mount Burangrang. A search operation has grown from 500 to 2,100 personnel using bare hands, water pumps, drones and excavators. Seventeen people have been confirmed dead, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said. Four marines were among the dead, navy Chief of Staff Adm. Muhammad Ali told reporters. They were part of a 23-member unit training for a long-duration border assignment on the Indonesia–Papua New Guinea frontier, he said. The rest are unaccounted for.

Full report : Indonesian marines among 42 missing in deadly West Java landslide.