International   

150 die in Indonesian floods

Jakarta rushes aid to the affected Sulawesi island

JAKARTA: The toll from widespread flooding and landslips in central Indonesia may exceed 150, the country's Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said on Wednesday, citing reports that dozens of people were still missing.

Rescuers retrieved scores of bodies from villages ravaged by floods and landslips on Sulawesi island, bringing the death roll after days of heavy rainfall to 120, officials said.

Mr. Kalla said the number of casualties would increase because 40 persons are still unaccounted for. He announced an investigation into claims that the flooding may have been caused by illegal logging after large swaths of land were battered by incessant rain since Monday, swelling rivers and inundating hundreds of houses and rice fields.

Appeal for help

``We are overwhelmed with the bodies here,'' said Bachtiar, head of a public health centre in the worst hit-district of Sinjai, a coastal region in southern Sulawesi. ``We need help, especially body bags.''

Efendi Rajaloa, coordinator of search and rescue in Sinjai, said 104 bodies have been recovered. Eight other persons were killed and 12 were missing in four neighbouring districts, officials said earlier. The Government announced it was sending tonnes of emergency supplies to the island. Hundreds of people flocked to hospitals to look for missing relatives, witnesses said.

A survivor named Rohim recounted being swept out to the sea after a flood tore through his house early on Tuesday morning. He survived for nine hours by hanging onto a piece of driftwood, but his wife and two sons are still missing.

The region is about 1,600 km northeast of Jakarta.

Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslips and flash floods each year in Indonesia, where millions of people live in mountainous regions and near fertile flood plains close to rivers. Some environmentalists blame rampant deforestation for causing the disasters. — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

150 die in Indonesian floods
LTTE firm on removal of E.U. monitors
Saddam's lawyer abducted, killed
Pakistan accepted U.S. help on n-plants
England fans in overnight Cologne skirmishes: the best and the worst on German streets
Womb transplant in sheep
Crackdown on mafia
Experts discuss bird flu
India, Russia to hold naval war games in early 2007
Tulbul talks on June 22, 23
Retired judge to probe Kanishka bombing

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu