Identification of four other bodies is still underway, while 10 injured survivors are being hospitalized at the Andi Djemma Public Hospital in Masamba Sub-districtMakassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA) - Death toll from a flash flood inundating certain parts of Luwu Utara District, South Sulawesi Province, touched 16, of which 12 were identified, Makassar-based Search and Rescue Agency Head Mustari confirmed on Wednesday.
"Identification of four other bodies is still underway, while 10 injured survivors are being hospitalized at the Andi Djemma Public Hospital in Masamba Sub-district," he informed local journalists.
Local rescue workers continue their search efforts to locate 23 residents, who reportedly went missing owing to the disaster, he stated.
"Today, we continue our search efforts by coordinating with a joint team of rescuers from the local disaster mitigation agency," Mustari remarked, adding that several households in the sub-districts of Masamba, Sabbang, Baebunta, Baebunta Selatan, Malangke, and Malangke Barat bore the brunt of the flash flood.
The flash flood, triggered by torrential rains on Monday evening that caused the rivers of Masamba, Rongkang and Radda to overflow, also caused the forced displacement of 655 people from 156 households, according to the Luwu Utara Disaster Mitigation Agency.
Over the past two weeks, flash floods affected several areas in Indonesia.
Seven sub-districts in Lamandau District, Central Kalimantan Province; Pasir Village, Meulaboh, West Aceh District, Aceh Province; and Kapuas Hulu District, West Kalimantan Province, were among the affected areas.
In Lamandau District, Central Kalimantan Province, flash floods left no less than 2,814 people or 1,402 families, in 33 villages in seven sub-districts in a lurch.
Hendra Lesmana, the Lamandau District head, on July 13, claimed that this spate of flooding was the worst of its kind to have ever hit the district.
The local authorities have evacuated flood victims to safer places. The flooding also severed land transportation in the wake of several roads being swamped by floodwaters.
Imam Rosyidin and Arief Sulistiyarto, two agricultural extension agents, were trapped for four days in Bayat Village, Belutut Raya Sub-district, on account of the flooding.
"For about four days, my husband, who served at the Bayat Village Agricultural Extension Center (BPP), was trapped in the flooding. They were in the midst of floodwaters and could not return to Nanga Bulik," Lani Rosa Ria Indah, the wife of Imam Rosyidin, head of the Bayat Agricultural Extension Center (BPP), stated in Nanga Bulik on July 12.
Related news: Floods inundate 33 villages in Central Kalimantan
Related news: Flooding submerges Meulaboh, West Aceh, causes damage to 42 homes
EDITED BY INE
Translator: M Darwin F, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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