More die, missing in Aceh floods

More die, missing in Aceh floods

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: One more person died in the floods that swept southwestern Aceh, bringing the death toll in the worst natural disaster to hit the province in the past three decades to 11 on Wednesday.

Local residents also reported three people missing.

The floods, the result of three days of heavy rains last week, also damaged dozens of houses and thousands of hectares of rice fields.

"This disaster has caused the Southwest Aceh district to suffer Rp 105.7 billion (US$ 11.74 million) in material losses," an employee at the district's flood monitoring agency, Darwis, said.

The fatalities were identified as Mursalin alias Buyung, 35, M. Jamil, 28, Hindun, 75, Sulaiman, 60, Masyithah, 3, Nuraini, 32, Faridah, 30, Teungku Rusman, 60, Darwan, 18, Fiermansyah, 24, and Jalil, whose age remains unknown.

The missing three are residents of Padang Baru village, Susoh subdistrict, about 375 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. -- Antara