Bandung, W Java, Jan. 26 -- Mudflows that struck parts of West Bandung were triggered by the collapse of a natural landslide dam upstream rather than ordinary landslides, and similar disasters could recur, according to a geologist.

Imam Achmad Sadisun, from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), stated that the pre-dawn disaster on Saturday, January 24, hit Pasirkuning and Pasirkuda hamlets in Cisarua Subdistrict and Sukadami hamlet in Lembang Subdistrict was caused by a mudflow mechanism rather than localized slope failures.

"The houses did not slide from the slopes where they stood, instead, they were hit by landslide material delivered from upstream through river channels," Sadisun told reporters in Bandung, West Java, on Sunday....