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Indonesia flood, landslide death toll hits 70
JAKARTA, Jan 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Floods and landslides that battered
Indonesia’s Sulawesi island have killed at least 70 people, authorities said
Tuesday, as aerial footage underscored the scale of the disaster with whole
villages wiped off the map.
Lashed by heavy rain, rivers swelled and burst their banks, inundating
dozens of communities across 12 districts as well as parts of the provincial
capital Makassar.
The bodies of 70 victims have been found, while six are still missing,
Syamsibar, head of South Sulawesi’s disaster mitigation agency, who like many
Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.
Drone footage showed landslides had buried Pattallikang village in hard-
hit Gowa district, with only a few buildings — including a mosque — visible
after an avalanche of mud and rock cascaded down a nearby hillside.
Nearly 9,500 people have been displaced by the extreme weather, and
hundreds of houses, government buildings, schools and bridges have been
damaged, the disaster mitigation agency said Monday.
Authorities say floodwaters are receding but a state of emergency will
remain in place until February 6, while rescuers look for those still missing
and help repair damaged infrastructure.
Landslides and floods are common in Indonesia, especially during the
monsoon season between October and April, when rains lash the vast Southeast
Asian archipelago.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1638 hrs