So far, 58 Dead and 35 Missing?
On Wednesday, 15 May 2024, flash floods and landslides in Indonesia's West Sumatra continued, the search for 35 people missing is going on, authorities said.
The casualties from the weekend disaster reached 58.
Heavy rain on Saturday evening triggered flash floods, landslides, and cold lava flow - a mud-like mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris, and water - in three districts and one town in West Sumatra province. By Tuesday, the casualties were at 52.
The cold lava flow, known by the Indonesian word lahar, came from Mount Marapi, one of Sumatra's most active volcanoes.
In December, more than 20 people were killed when Merapi erupted.
The national disaster and management agency BNPB will focus the search for the missing people in areas near rivers and clean the main roads from the large rocks, debris, and mud brought by the floods, its head Suharyanto said in an official statement.
A video shared by BNPB showed logs, rocks, and mud strewn over roads in the Tanah Datar district, with some collapsed bridges and houses.
Local rescuers, police, and military cleaning houses and mosques of mud helped residents. In some settlements, excavators were deployed to remove large rocks and trees.
At least 249 houses, 225 hectares of land, including rice fields, 19 bridges, and most of the main roads were damaged in three districts and one town.
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