Indonesia floods leave at least 94 dead, 80 missing
Severe floods and landslides occurred on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing at least 94 people and leaving dozens missing.
Rains have caused floods and landslides in three provinces on the island of Sumatra, forcing about 80,000 people to evacuate, with about 80 people still missing, according to Indonesia’s disaster agency.
Emergency teams are racing to reopen closed roads, restore communications and reach villages that have been disrupted since the beginning of the week.
The worst casualties occurred in North Sumatra, where authorities reported 55 deaths and 41 people missing, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
In Batang Toru, where at least 21 people died, residents lifted seven decomposed bodies wrapped in black plastic from the back of a truck onto a large land owned by a state plantation company, while an excavator dumped mounds of earth to bury them in a mass grave.
“We found 21 bodies placed in a health center… seven of them will be buried,” said Mara Tinggi, chief of Batang Toru town in the worst-hit region of North Sumatra.
Residents told Reuters there was no morgue to store the bodies waiting for loved ones to arrive. Surrounded by felled trees, many people at the health center had to hold their noses because of the smell of rotting corpses.
Indonesian authorities are rushing to respond to the worst rain and floods seen in the region in years. The death toll has increased rapidly in the last 24 hours and authorities fear the number will rise further.
The disaster mitigation agency said road access remained minimal and critical infrastructure, including energy and communications, was severely affected.
The agency said that the search for the missing continued on Friday. Authorities were working to restore power and open roads blocked by landslides.
Local search and rescue agency spokesman Ilham Wahab said more than 100 people in West Sumatra were still trapped in their homes and waiting for help.
Seasonal rains frequently cause floods and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.
With EFE, AP and DPA
