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.