Deadly mudslides ... Members of the search and rescue team remove a victim's body at Jemblung village in Banjarnegara, Central Java after a landslide. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The death toll from the disaster has risen to 32.

Torrential downpours triggered the slip, which hit Jemblung village in central Java late on Friday.

“The rescue team has found 32 bodies and is still searching for 76 people buried,” National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Sunday.

Hundreds of rescuers were digging through the mud with shovels and their bare hands in a desperate hunt for survivors, he said.

Buried alive ... rescuers search for victims of the massive landslide, triggered by torrential downpours at Jemblung village in Central Java. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Military official Edi Rahmatullah told reporters: “We are trying our best to look (for) those still buried. It’s a big challenge because we are still using manual tools and the affected area is very muddy.”

Provincial search and rescue chief Agus Haryono said rescue efforts had been slow because the ground was unstable.

“The affected area is a large valley surrounded by hills. The soil is loose and muddy so we have to be very careful,” he said, adding that sniffer dogs were being deployed to detect bodies.

“The chances of finding anyone alive at this point is slim but who knows? We just hope and pray we can find survivors.”

Overwhelmed ... villagers mourn family and friends killed in the massive landslide. Picture AFP Source: AFP

“The landslide looked like it was spinning down,” said one resident, Subroto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

“I managed to rescue a pregnant woman, but could not save the other man.”

He said one side of the hill collapsed, then another.

“In five minutes, there were three (major landslides) and they swept away everything,” Subroto said.

Authorities are using heavy equipment to clear a three-metre high pile of fallen trees and rubble on the main road leading to the site of the disaster, Mr Nugroho said.

More than 2000 rescuers, including police, soldiers and volunteers were involved.

Fifteen people were injured, including 11 seriously, and more than 800 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters.

Victim ... A rescue team searches for survivors and removes bodies. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Many roads and bridges were destroyed, hampering rescue efforts, Mr Nugroho said.

Many of the survivors were injured from being hit by debris and are being treated in hospital.

President Joko Widodo, who arrived in Central Java’s district of Banjarnegara on Sunday, stressed the need to speed up rescue efforts.

Trapped ... Rescuers work to free a cow caught in the landslide, which was triggered by heavy rain. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

He said the government would help provide aid for those who were injured.

After hearing a deep rumbling sound just after dusk Friday, some fled to safer ground.

But others were either at home or at the local mosque when the mud, rocks and trees tumbled onto their village.

Wawan Wahyuni, a 20-year-old farmer, said he watched helplessly as his grandfather and dozens of his neighbours disappeared beneath mud more than six metres deep in some spots.

“I saw them buried alive,” Mr Wahyuni said. “They were yelling ‘Allah Akbar! (God is great!) before being slowly buried.”

Mr Wahyuni himself was buried up to his chest until survivors rescued him seven hours later.

Banjarnegara is located on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java, about 460 kilometres east of Jakarta.

Seasonal rains and high tides in recent days have caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile, flood-prone plains close to rivers.