Death toll in Aceh flash flood up to 15 as more bodies found
Death toll in Aceh flash flood up to 15 as more bodies found
Agencies, Banda Aceh
Rescue workers and villagers recovered on Thursday five more
bodies from the debris left behind by flash floods in the
tsunami-stricken province of Aceh, bringing the death toll from
the floods to 15, police said.
Dozens of people were still searching through the debris for
possible survivors in three villages that were struck by floods
that came rushing down from the Leuser mountain range, said Lt.
Zuljulfri.
Zuljulfri said five more bodies were discovered early on
Thursday, adding to the 10 bodies recovered on Wednesday. Many of
the dead were young children.
Officials are still trying to compile a list of those still
missing, but most villagers have been accounted for, said
Zuljulfri, as quoted by the Associated Press.
Flooding and landslides are common in Indonesia, with
environmentalists blaming uncontrolled logging for many
disasters.
Acting Aceh governor Azwar Abubakar said the flash floods were
not caused by illegal logging. He said the affected villages in
Bandar district, Southeast Aceh regency, were located in the
Leuser Mountain National Park.
"The flash floods were not caused by illegal logging because
the disaster site is part of the national park, where forest
concessions are prohibited," he was quoted by Antara news agency
as saying on Thursday.
Earlier, the executive director of the Indonesian Forum for
the Environment (Walhi) in Aceh, Bambang Antariksa, blamed
widespread illegal logging in the national park for the floods.
He said the local administration should be held responsible
for the disaster for its failure to stop illegal logging.
Azwar said the accusation was groundless since the flash
floods originated at the top of the mountain range, where there
was no illegal logging. He said the floods were simply a natural
disaster caused by heavy rain in the area.
Separately, the flooding spread to five subdistricts in nearby
Aceh Singkil regency after the Krueng Simpang Kanan River
overflowed its banks.
Masyithah, a local resident, said on Thursday the main streets
in the regency were under 50 centimeters of water.
Flooding inundated thousands of houses and buildings in the
regency, said Masyithah, as quoted by Antara.
According to Masyithah, rain clouds were still present on
Thursday, sparking fears that more rain would result in even more
severe flooding.
Aceh is still recovering from a massive earthquake on Dec. 26
that triggered a tsunami, which killed at least 128,000 people
and left more than 500,000 homeless.