Floods caused by heavy rains have caused landslides in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province. At least 34 people have died. Apart from this, several people are still missing, the authorities said.
Abdul Malik, head of Indonesia’s provincial rescue team, said 28 people died in the flood and landslides.
We are continuing to search. Four are still missing. Later that number increased to 34. So far 16 people have not been found.
Ilham Wahab, spokesman for the West Sumatra Disaster Management Agency, said, “34 people have lost their lives.” At least 18 people were injured. We are still looking for 16 people. ‘
The country’s national disaster management agency BNPB said five upazilas of Tanah Datar regency have been affected by floods since Saturday night. With the flood came a lot of mud and covered a large area.
BNPB also said, in their latest assessment, 84 houses, 16 bridges were damaged by the disaster. Efforts are being made to quickly build roads using heavy equipment to deliver relief to remote areas.
On Saturday midnight, the Mt Merapirandi broke its branch causing high tide. Heavy rains and landslides have hit the mountain villages of Agam and Tanah Datar districts in West Sumatra the most.
Abdul Muhari, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said at least 100 houses were swept away.
Heavy rains, cold lava flows and mudflows down the volcano’s slopes triggered flash floods. Cold lava flows are also known as lahars. It is a mixture of igneous material and gravel, which was washed down the slopes of Mount Merapi volcano by rain.
