Jakarta: At least five people have been killed in central Java, and rescuers are digging for up to 18 missing after a soggy hillside collapsed under the weight of torrential rains.

Survivors described a sudden roar as Thursday's landslide was unleashed, sweeping trees and everything else in its path toward the terraced rice fields below.

Rescuers search the site of the landslide in central Java on Friday. Credit:AP

"The hill above us looked like it was spinning down," said Watirah, a 53-year- old farmer from Pasir Panjang village, who with other villagers from the affected hamlet in Central Java's Brebes district tried to outrun the sliding earth.

"I tried to keep going, tried to stand up and screamed loudly for help before I fell again," said Watirah, who goes by a single name.