JAKARTA – At least 44 people were killed after flash floods and landslides swept an island in Indonesia’s easternmost province this morning, rescue officials said, adding that they expect the toll to rise.
“There are 44 people dead, with nine injured” in East Flores regency, and “many... are still under the mud”, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Raditya Jati said.
Hours before people woke to celebrate Easter Sunday, torrential rain unleashed flash floods in the Catholic-majority Flores Island.
Mud inundated homes, while bridges and roads in the eastern end of the island were destroyed.
Rescuers are struggling to reach the remote and worst-hit area in East Flores regency because of rains and strong waves.
The death toll rose from 23 earlier announced by authorities.
The number of injured is also expected to increase, as the agency is still receiving reports from locals, Jati said.
“We are still documenting the total number of people injured,” the spokesman said, adding that extreme weather is expected to continue in the coming week.
Separately today, major floods also killed two people in Bima, in the neighbouring province of West Nusa Tenggara, according to the disaster agency.
Dams in four subdistricts overflowed, submerging nearly 10,000 houses following a nine-hour downpour, said Jati.
Fatal landslides and flash floods are common across the Indonesian archipelago during the rainy season.
In January, flash floods hit the Indonesian town of Sumedang in West Java, killing 40 people.
Last September, at least 11 people were killed in landslides in Borneo, while a few months earlier dozens died in a similar disaster in Sulawesi.
Deforestation is often a cause of the landslides, according to environmentalists.
The country’s disaster agency has estimated that 125 million Indonesians – nearly half of the country’s population – live in areas at risk of landslides. – AFP, April 4, 2021
