Imagine a normal workday turning into a nightmare in seconds. That’s what happened recently at the PT MHM nickel mine in East Halmahera, Indonesia, where a terrifying landslide was caught on video. The dramatic footage, filmed from inside a heavy vehicle, shows the ground shaking violently, a massive wave of earth and debris rushing down, and workers desperately running for their lives. One driver narrowly escaped, unbuckling and jumping from his truck just before it, and another large vehicle nearby, was flipped and engulfed by the roaring mud and rock. This incident on January 16, 2026, tragically left two workers dead and one still missing.
But this isn’t an isolated event. Indonesia is currently facing a broader humanitarian crisis, reeling from an unusually severe monsoon season. Just this week, a devastating landslide struck Pasir Langu village in West Java, claiming at least 48 lives so far, with 32 people still missing under the mud. Heartbreakingly, among the dead are 23 Indonesian Navy officers caught during training.
Experts are calling this a “winter of disasters” for Indonesia. After a cyclone killed 1,200 people two months prior, the relentless rains have saturated the soil in hilly regions, making landslides a frequent and deadly occurrence. As rescue teams continue their desperate search efforts in West Java and authorities review safety protocols at the East Halmahera mine, the nation remains on high alert, hoping for an end to this tragic streak of natural disasters.
