North Sumatran floods kill 42

North Sumatran floods kill 42

JAKARTA (JP): Flooding in North Sumatra claimed at least 42 lives yesterday and left another 16 people missing, officials said.

Floods and landslides in Labuhan Batu and Tapanuli Selatan districts have also injured about 500 people and forced another 5,000 people to flee their homes, the officials added.

Spokesman for the South Tapanuli administration Sarmadan Harahap said that rescue workers were working to recover more victims in the hardest hit village of Sipiongon.

"The number of victims is expected to rise," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone. "Search and rescue workers combed the stricken villages today."

He added that flash floods and landslides struck tens of villages in the Labuhan Batu district, damaging hundreds of houses and inundating hundreds of hectares of paddy fields.

He said heavy rains on Wednesday had triggered the Bilah River to flood. Up to 17 villages had been struck, with 240 hectares of paddy fields, 250 buildings and about 70 hectares of rubber plantations in Bilah Batu damaged.

Harahap said the local administration asked residents to remain alert for more flooding because the weather continued to be bad.

"The rain is continuing," he said, "There is no indication when the rain will stop."

He said landslides had blocked several roads connecting the two regencies.

Sofyan Lubis, an attendant at a command post in the South Tapanuli regency capital of Padang Sidempuan, told the Post that rescue workers had evacuated villagers affected by the flood to safer grounds.

Those killed in the disaster have yet to be identified or those missing listed, he added.

According to Lubis, a 200-strong search and rescue team from the police and military found it difficult to get into the isolated villages.

In the Sipiongon regency, the rescue workers had to travel 120 kilometers from Padang Sidempuan before they could reach the flooded communities.

"We have sent relief aid to the areas," he said. (rms)