LEMBATA, Indonesia (AP) – The death toll from mudslides in eastern Indonesia has risen to 140 with dozens still missing, officials said on Wednesday as rain continued to pound the region and hampered the search.
The East Flores district on the island of Adonara has suffered the biggest losses with 67 bodies recovered so far and six missing. Mud tumbled from the surrounding hills early Sunday and caught people asleep. Some were swept away by flash floods after rain caused rivers to burst their banks overnight.
On the nearby island of Lembata, torrential rains caused by tropical cyclone Seroja sent solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November to fall on more than a dozen villages, according to the National Disaster Management Agency at least 32 and 35 untouched. left.
Hundreds of police, soldiers and residents dug through the rubble with their bare hands, digging and hoeing in search of the buried. Relatives cried Wednesday as they watched rescuers pull out a mud-caked body, place it on a bamboo stretcher and take it away for burial.
“Look for my father and mother who are still buried … regardless of their condition,” Suzanna Tasoin called for rescuers struggling to dig up tons of volcanic material and rocks with farm tools at Waimatan village on the island of Lembata. “We want to bury them with the respect they deserve. ”
In all, the landslides and floods killed at least 140 people on several islands in Indonesia as well as 27 people in neighboring East Timor. Thousands of homes were damaged and thousands of people were displaced by the weather, which is expected to continue until at least Friday as the storm moves south to Australia.
Rescue efforts are hampered by the rain and the remote area, where roads and bridges have been damaged in many places.
Rescue workers with excavators and tons of food and medicine were deployed from the town of Makassar on the island of Sulawesi, but were hampered by bad weather and extremely high waves.
Five helicopters helped reach isolated areas of the islands, Doni Monardo, head of the National Disaster Response Agency, told reporters late Wednesday.
He said evacuees urgently needed the basic necessities such as blankets, rugs, tents, baby food and medical services.
The government provided tens of thousands of masks against coronavirus, and Monardo said authorities would set up health posts at refugee camps to test people for the virus.
He said six naval vessels, including a hospital ship, with more goods, were expected to arrive on Friday to relieve overwhelming hospitals and clinics in East Nusa Tenggara, one of Indonesia’s poorest provinces.
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Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.