The missing people are all residents of Gintung hamlet in Cibenda village in Cipongkor sub-district, the agency's spokesperson, Abdul Muhari, said in a press statement received on Monday.
The victims may have been carried away by floodwaters and landslide materials that hit their houses amid heavy rainfall in Gintung hamlet on Sunday, he added.
Muhari said that a joint team of search and rescue workers from several government agencies arrived at the disaster-hit area on Monday and started intensifying search efforts.
Observing the situation on the ground, the SAR workers feared that the number of buried victims could increase, he said.
To accelerate search efforts, the rescuers launched a drone equipped with a device for detecting buried victims, he said, adding that the drone belongs to the SAR Agency-Bandung Office.
The flash flood and landslide affected 99 households. Two residents were injured by landslide materials, requiring medical treatment at a local public health center, he stated.
The disaster also damaged tens of houses and public facilities, he said, adding that the district's regional disaster mitigation agency has set up an emergency command post and several public kitchens.
The agency was assisted by the district government's social affairs office in setting up public kitchens for providing cooked meals to affected residents, he said.
Since December 2023, several regions in Indonesia have experienced hydrometeorological disasters.
In Riau province, for instance, Pelalawan district experienced a 20-year cycle of major floods from December 2023 to January 2024.
The Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that the flooding in Riau affected 131,834 residents and inundated 32,303 houses in six districts in the province.
The agency said that 870 residents were displaced in Pelalawan district, 572 in Rokan Hilir district, 424 in Indragiri Hulu district, 88 in Dumai city, 72 in Bengkalis district, and 40 in Siak district.
On March 17, 2024, the embankment of the Wulan River in Ketanjung village, Karanganyar sub-district, Demak district, Central Java, breached again, causing a flash flood that inundated several areas.
In the second week of February 2024, another breach was recorded in the Wulan River embankment.
The breach caused floods in the sub-districts of Karanganyar, Karangawen, Kebonagung, Wonosalam, Karangtengah, Gajah, and Dempet in Demak district.
Related news: Flash floods in Central Java's Kudus affected 39,272 residents: BPBD
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Translator: M.Riezko BEP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
