Landslides, floods kill over 100 in Indonesia

SINJAI – Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain have killed at least 110 people in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province and left a further 100 missing, an official said yesterday.

The disaster, which has hit at least seven districts in the province after two days of torrential rain, is the latest in a series of similar tragedies to hit the world’s biggest archipelago this year. Saktianto, an officer at the South Sulawesi search-and-rescue agency, said the latest report from Sinjai, the worst-hit district, showed 103 people had been killed and 99 were still missing.Saktianto said floods killed 64 people while landslides claimed other 39 lives there.Another two people were killed in Bantaeng district and another in Bone district, while eight others were missing in total there, the official said.A police officer in Bulukumba district said four people died there.At the hospital in Sinjai, some 15 bodies were laid out, including children as young as five, as many relatives cried and some became hysterical.Police, the military and others were searching for survivors, Muhidin, a search and rescue official in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, told AFP.The government on Wednesday dispatched aid for the victims.Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah said sarongs, blankets, biscuits, medicine, body bags and medical staff were to be flown in.The minister told reporters he had also ordered local social welfare offices to distribute 100 tonnes of rice to the affected districts.Official news agency Antara reported the meteorological office in Makassar was warning of more heavy rains over the next three days.The weather cleared yesterday morning, however, and many residents were returning to their homes, the agency said.Flash floods and landslides in Indonesia are not unusual, although monsoon rains typically peak in January.In April floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains killed at least 23 people in East Java.At least 12 people were killed in similar disasters in January on other islands while more than 150 people lost their lives in two separate landslides on Java.- Nampa-AFPSaktianto, an officer at the South Sulawesi search-and-rescue agency, said the latest report from Sinjai, the worst-hit district, showed 103 people had been killed and 99 were still missing.Saktianto said floods killed 64 people while landslides claimed other 39 lives there.Another two people were killed in Bantaeng district and another in Bone district, while eight others were missing in total there, the official said.A police officer in Bulukumba district said four people died there.At the hospital in Sinjai, some 15 bodies were laid out, including children as young as five, as many relatives cried and some became hysterical.Police, the military and others were searching for survivors, Muhidin, a search and rescue official in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, told AFP.The government on Wednesday dispatched aid for the victims.Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah said sarongs, blankets, biscuits, medicine, body bags and medical staff were to be flown in.The minister told reporters he had also ordered local social welfare offices to distribute 100 tonnes of rice to the affected districts.Official news agency Antara reported the meteorological office in Makassar was warning of more heavy rains over the next three days.The weather cleared yesterday morning, however, and many residents were returning to their homes, the agency said.Flash floods and landslides in Indonesia are not unusual, although monsoon rains typically peak in January.In April floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains killed at least 23 people in East Java.At least 12 people were killed in similar disasters in January on other islands while more than 150 people lost their lives in two separate landslides on Java.- Nampa-AFP