Officials said 34 bodies had been recovered but scores more remained buried following Wednesday's landslide in Central Java province, which was triggered by heavy rains.

Rescuers halted the search in the afternoon for fear of another lanslide as more heavy rain pounded the area.

Among the bodies unearthed by rescuers on Thursday was that of a woman holding her child.

"The possibility of finding survivors is almost nil," Mulyanto, a soldier assisting in the rescue efforts in the village of Sijeruk, told AFP earlier Thursday.

Banjarnegara district deputy chief Hadi Supeno told reporters at the scene that an estimated 142 people were buried when the landslide struck, meaning around 100 bodies were still to be found.

Search coordinator Arif Sudaryanto put the likely toll higher, estimating that about 160 people were still under the mud and rocks.

More than 400 rescuers used backhoes and hand tools to dig into the deep wall of mud as residents from neighbouring hamlets watched and waited for news of their relatives.

"I'm here to find my nephew. I want to know if he is alive or dead. If he is dead I will bury him in my place," said Atin, 30, who lives in a neighboring village.

Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah and Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie visited the disaster site on Thursday to give 500 million rupiah (50,000 dollars) in assistance for the victims.

Nine of the dead victims were buried in mass grave about 500 meters (yards) from the landslide site after being washed and wrapped in shrouds.

A torrent of mud slammed into dozens of homes in Sijeruk, 370 kilometres (230 miles) east of Jakarta, in the second disaster to hit Java island this week caused by days of heavy rains and, activists charged, deforestation.

Village chief Basirun bin Sameja said there were 655 inhabitants in Sijeruk, according to a 2004 census. So far 177 people had been accounted for, but the number of people who had left the village since 2004 or were away was unknown.

Relatives of the victims reacted with disbelief and tears.

"I took care of them since they were one day old. How can suddenly all of them be whisked away out of my hands?" said Suwari, whose three grandchildren were buried by the landslide.

The landslide followed flash floods which devastated villages in neighboring East Java province.

Officials said Thursday that the death toll from the floods had risen to 77 and could increase further after a helicopter evacuated bodies from inundated zones.

Australia on Thursday pledged 200,000 dollars (150,000 US) in aid for the survivors of both disasters. The money will be channelled through the Red Cross to charter helicopters to evacuate the injured and drop emergency aid into hard-to-reach areas.

Emergency goods such as medicines, food, tents and hygiene kits will also be distributed, the government announced.

Environmentalists blamed both disasters on massive logging as well as land conversion for farming on Java, one of the world's most densely populated islands, and called on the government to take action.

Deputy district chief Supeno agreed. "One of the causes of the disaster is deforestation by thieves, but we don't know who they are," he said.

He said 180 households in the landslide-hit village would be given 35 million rupiah each if they were willing to relocate.

Flooding and landslides are not unusual during Indonesia's rainy season.

More than 140 Indonesians were killed in February last year when a garbage slide buried more than 60 houses in a village southwest of Jakarta after days of heavy rains.

In 2003 more than 200 lives were claimed when flash floods tore through Bahorok, a popular riverside resort in North Sumatra province. Some officials denied deforestation was the cause of that tragedy.

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