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rescue workers inside Indonesia Struggled on Saturday to reach victims in many devastated areas Earthquake And FloodsAnd officials fear the death toll will rise further as 248 people have been confirmed dead.
These areas were largely cut off due to damaged roads and collapsed communications lines, and relief planes were delivering aid and supplies to the badly affected district of Central Tapanuli in the north. sumatra Elsewhere in the province and territory. Rescue efforts were also hampered by damaged bridges and roads and lack of heavy equipment.
The National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB, said rescue workers recovered more bodies in West Sumatra’s Agam district, raising the death toll to 248 and more than 500 injured.
Monsoon rains last week have left rivers bursting their banks in North Sumatra province. BNPB said floods devastated mountain villages, swept away people and left thousands of homes and buildings submerged. About 3,000 displaced families fled to government shelters.
Rahmat Lesmono of the local disaster office said heavy equipment was desperately needed to reach possible survivors buried under tons of mud and rocks in Agam district, where rescue workers recovered more bodies, bringing the death toll in West Sumatra alone to 74 as of Saturday. About 78 other people are still missing in three villages of Agam.
Relatives wailed as rescue workers pulled out mud-stained bodies from a burial chamber in Salareh Aiya village of Agam.
Authorities struggled to move tractors and other heavy equipment from broken roads after torrential rains lashed mountainous settlements in Aceh province with mud and rockslides. Hundreds of police, soldiers and residents dug through the debris with their bare hands, shovels and hoes as heavy rains hampered their efforts.
“The death toll is believed to be rising as many bodies are still missing, while many have not been reached,” said BNPB chief Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.
Television reports showed two rescue workers battling strong currents in a small rubber boat and heading towards a man clinging to a coconut tree.
Authorities in Aceh province said rescue workers were having difficulty reaching victims. The affected areas were also in need of relief supplies, fuel, fresh water and generators.
“There are many challenges,” Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf said after declaring a state of emergency until December 11 to deal with the disaster. “We have a lot of work to do soon, but circumstances do not allow us to do so.”
Flash floods in Aceh’s Biruen district caused nine bridges to collapse, disrupting two-way traffic to and from the city of Medan in North Sumatra, local media said. Banda Aceh And residents are forced to cross the river from one village to another by boat.
It was the latest natural disaster to hit Indonesia, which is frequently hit by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis due to its location on the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
Seasonal rains often cause floods and landslide In Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile floodplains.