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View all search resultsLandfill collapse at Bantargebang, Indonesia's biggest, kills four
The collapse took place at the Bantargebang landfill on Sunday, located in the outskirts of Jakarta, said Desiana Kartika Bahari, head of the local rescue agency.
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Rescuers evacuate a victim following a landslide at Bantargebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java, on March 9, 2026. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
R
escuers are still searching for five missing people after a large stack of garbage collapsed at Indonesia's biggest landfill site over the weekend, killing at least four people, an official said on Monday.
The collapse took place at the Bantargebang landfill on Sunday, located in the outskirts of Jakarta, said Desiana Kartika Bahari, head of the local rescue agency.
It was likely triggered by the heavy rain that hit the area from Saturday evening, she told Reuters.
"It was raining all day even from (Saturday) evening and the mountain of garbage was unstable," Desiana said.
Some trucks were unloading garbage when the collapse took place, and there was also a food stall near the site.
"The missing people are the truck drivers and scavengers," she said, adding that there there could be more people buried in the landfill.
Four people survived the accident.
More than 200 rescuers, including police and military personnel and 17 excavators, have been deployed since Monday morning to search for the missing.
Jakarta and its satellite cities, collectively known as Jabodetabek, are home to about 42 million people and generate an estimated 14,000 tonnes of waste daily.
Bantargebang, one of the world's largest open landfills, sprawls over more than 110 hectares and holds about 55 million tonnes of trash, according to a local environment agency official.
Bantargebang covers around 110 hectares and receives around 6,500 tons-7,000 tons of garbage per day.
Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq pointed the finger at local authorities for allowing the accumulation of garbage despite a 2008 ban on open landfills.
"Bantargebang belongs to the Jakarta administration, so they have to take responsibility," Hanif told broadcaster Kompas TV late Sunday while visiting the disaster site.
"This incident must truly serve as a bitter lesson for us so that Jakarta can promptly make improvements."
The Jakarta environmental agency did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
President Prabowo Subianto said last month that most of Indonesia’s landfills, which are being gradually phased out, would exceed their capacity by 2028.
The government will invest $3.5 billion in a project to build 34 waste-to-energy sites within two years that would incinerate garbage to produce electricity, he said.
A landfill landslide killed 143 people in West Java in 2005, triggered by a methane gas explosion and heavy rain in the area.
