Hope fades for Indonesian landslide victims

Search and rescue workers today raced to reach victims of landslides that buried several Indonesian villages beneath tonnes of mud and rocks, but hopes of finding survivors were fading.

More than 240 people were missing or feared dead.

Relatives looked on anxiously as bodies were pulled from the rubble days after pounding rain on the main island of Java unleashed landslides in Cijeruk and Jember, divided by hundreds of miles of mountainous terrain.

So far 149 corpses have been found, many of them bloated or decayed, and rescuers said they may have to halt their search in the next 24 hours.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with thousands of people left homeless by the flash floods that ripped through Jember on Monday, promising government assistance in rebuilding schools, bridges and roads.

Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers were sifting through the heavy mud in search of life today.

Environmentalists and government officials said it did not appear illegal logging played a role in the latest disasters.