"No confirmation has yet been received on which sections of the road between Tomohon and Manado have been damaged due to the landslides. However, as per the information we have received, the road has been damaged at eight different locations. The North Tomohon sub-district head is stuck in a traffic jam that happened as a result of the landslides," Julius Pangalila, the head of Kinilow hamlet, North Tomohon sub-district, claimed here, Wednesday.
Two landslides occurred in Kinilow I and one in Tinoor, North Tomohon sub-district.
Local authorities are trying to remove the mud and boulders accumulated on the road as a result of the landslides, which resulted in a long traffic jam.
Dozens of people are believed to have been buried by a landslide in North Sulawesi.
They sought shelter from the heavy rains at a house located on the section of the Tomohon-Manado Road when the landslide struck the house.
"The land where the house was constructed suddenly slid down a 50-meter deep ravine. Dozens of people were dragged away and buried by the landslide," noted a local resident, Nelson Uada, whose 70-year-old father, Luade Uada, was among them. Luade Uada however managed to survive the landslide, he claimed.
"About 12 to 15 people had taken shelter at the house when the landslide occurred," Nelson quoted what his father had said.
Hundreds of people gathered in the Bethesda hospital compounds in Tomohon, as they awaited the evacuation of the people trapped in the landslide.
On Wednesday, in Manado, hundreds of houses remain submerged with flood waters reaching a height of 2.5 meters, following 11 hours of incessant rains.
Singkil Sub-District Head Herry Saptono stated that more than 200 houses in his area were inundated with one to 2.5-meter deep water. He also added that the flood victims had been evacuated, particularly women and children, to higher ground.
(f001/INE/H-YH)
EDITED BY INE
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
