Four villagers die in Bogor flash flood

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Four villagers died and four others were injured when a wall separating a ravine from a river on higher ground collapsed during a flash flood on Saturday.

One of the residents of Cimanggu Lebak, Kedung Badak village, was buried alive, while the three others were swept away in the flooding caused by heavy rains. The victims were Ningsih, 11, Titik, 50, Karniyem, 30, and Khatimah, who was four years old.

The bruised body of Ningsih was found under the rubble of the wall late that night, while the bodies of the three other victims were found around one kilometer away from the accident site yesterday.

Five houses were completely destroyed, while eight others suffered slight damage. The authorities are still assessing the financial loss.

Kankan, a witness, said that on Saturday evening residents saw the one-meter-high wall on the upper right hand side of the village began to crack as water from the overflowing river on the other side continued to rise.

The villagers tried to shore up the wall, but it collapsed anyway, and water rushed into the Tanah Sareal district village.

The flood subsided about half an hour later, Kankan said. The injured villagers are currently being treated at the Karya Bakti Hospital.

Bogor, known as the "City of Rain" owing to its high rate of rainfall, is prone to flash floods.

Last year, 15 people died in a flash flood near the Curug Luhur waterfall on the Cihedung river. One person is still missing.

The flood struck while a group of 16 people were swimming in the river. The water rose up so fast that none of them had time to save themselves.

In early 1991, flash floods killed two people and inundated 5,000 houses and hundreds of hectares of rice fields. the flooding also destroyed 100 houses and mosques, and killed dozens of domestic animals. (21/swe)