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Flood Toll Hits 198 As Rescue Efforts Continue In Indonesia
Sinjai, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 22, 2006 The death toll after floods and landslides in Indonesia's South Sulawesi hit 198 Thursday as workers trawled through mud and scoured nearby islands for more bodies and survivors. Most deaths occurred Tuesday across five districts in the province, but search and rescue operations have been recovering bodies since then and struggling to reach some of the most isolated affected areas. Data gathered from the disaster control centers in the districts showed that by late Thursday 198 people had been found dead and 73 remained missing. In hardest-hit Sinjai district, 183 people were killed and 67 others remained missing, said Fatma from the center there. The floods killed 89 while landslides killed 94. Eight other people were reported killed in Bulukumba district, two in Bantaeng, four in Jeneponto and one in Bone, said Natsir Taufik from the provincial disaster control taskforce in Makassar. At least six remained missing, Taufik said. R. Harsono, who heads the search and rescue agency's operations in Sinjai, told AFP that teams were still combing the sea at dusk around the Pulau Sembilan islands off the coast of Sinjai. "Most of the bodies have been swept to the sea and our search efforts are focused here. The number of bodies buried under rubble inland is relatively small," Harsono said. Harsono said rain-swollen rivers swept victims and debris into the Bay of Bone and the currents had carried them to Pulau Sembilan. He did not rule out finding more survivors, saying that on Wednesday afternoon, an elderly couple wedged between large pieces of floating wood had been found at sea. They were immediately whisked to a hospital in Makassar. South Sulawesi Vice Governor Yasin Limpo, who heads the province's disaster control task force, left the town of Sinaji by helicopter with other officials to visit isolated villages, the state Antara news agency said. "There are dozens of villages with a total population of over 10,000 in the two subdistricts (to where they were travelling) whose fate remains unknown as there is no longer any land access to those areas," Sinjai district spokesman Budiman was quoted as saying. "The roads have been buried by landslides," he said. Teams of soldiers, police and search and rescue workers, assisted by villagers and volunteers, used excavators to reopen roads blocked by landslides around Sinjai, ElShinta radio reported. Harsono said big seas had been hindering his workers. Sinjai lies about 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) northeast of the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Flash floods and landslides in Indonesia are not unusual. Environmentalists say repeated disasters have occurred largely because of unchecked deforestation. In January more than 150 Indonesians lost their lives in two separate landslides on Java.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links the missing link Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters When the Earth Quakes A world of storm and tempest
Philippine Communists Offer Ceasefire Around Restive Volcano
Manila (AFP) Jun 21, 2006Communist guerrillas on Wednesday offered a ceasefire in towns around the restive Bulusan volcano in the central Philippines to allow the military to help people who have fled their homes. The 1,565-meter (5,134-foot) mountain began emitting steam and ash in late March, triggering the evacuation of several dozen families on the southern tip of the main island of Luzon. |
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