Fifteen people die in Bogor flash flood

Fifteen people die in Bogor flash flood

JAKARTA (JP): Fifteen people died in a flash flood near a popular waterfall on the Cihedung river near Bogor, West Java, over the weekend. Seven bodies were recovered yesterday morning and eight on Sunday.

"Now we have found 15 people killed in the flood,"a member of the Search and Rescue (SAR) team told Antara at the Bogor Red Cross General Hospital yesterday.

The flood, caused by sudden heavy rain, occurred on Sunday afternoon at the Curug Luhur nature park and camping ground, where a number of people were walking by and swimming in the river, the news agency said.

The SAR team was still searching for another person who reportedly went missing during the flood.

"We will continue our efforts to find the victim," said the SAR member.

Five of the seven victims found yesterday have been identified as Haris, 22, Supandi, 24, Nani, 22, Syahri Ramadhan, 22, and Teguh, 23. The other two, a woman and a man, had yet to be identified as of yesterday.

The eight victims found on Sunday shortly after the accident have been identified as Irma, 22, Desi, 20, Heny Setiowaty, 21, Mashudi, 19, Nahrowi, 36, Udin Saepudin, 21, Edy Suwarto, 30, and Sumarna, 28.

All of them were residents of Jakarta.

The morgue at the Bogor Red Cross General Hospital was crowded with relatives of the victims, many of whom were continuously in tears. The emotionally charged atmosphere was such that reporters did not have the heart to interview any of the relatives.

The accident happened while a group of 16 people were swimming in the river when a flash flood, triggered by heavy rains, came and swept them away.

It was reported that the victims came to the recreation site in three separate groups.

So fast was the arrival of the flood that not one of them had time to save themselves. (bas)