34 dead in floods in Indonesia, 16 missing

At least 34 people died and 16 others were missing after flash floods and a volcano’s cold lava flow hit western Indonesia, a local disaster management official said on Sunday.

Hours of heavy rain caused flooding in two districts of West Sumatra province on Saturday evening, sending ash and large rocks cascading down Mount Marapi, the most active volcano on the archipelago’s Sumatra island.

“So far our data shows that 34 people died: 16 in Agam and 18 in Tanah Datar. At least 18 others are injured. We are also looking for 16 more people,” Ilham Wahab, spokesman for the West Sumatra Disaster Management Agency, told AFP.

He said the search operation involved local rescuers, police, soldiers and volunteers.

According to the Basarnas search and rescue agency, Agam and Tanah Datar districts were hit by flash floods and cold lava flow around 10:30 p.m. (15:30 GMT) on Saturday.

Cold lava, also called lahar, is volcanic material such as ash, sand and pebbles that is carried down the slopes of a volcano by rain.

Basarnas previously said 12 people had died, including several children.

Ilham said Sunday that authorities are still receiving reports of missing people from relatives.

He said he could not provide figures on the number of people evacuated from the area because search and rescue efforts were still focused on the victims and missing people.

– Mosques, houses damaged –

In Tanah Datar district, several mosques and a public swimming pool were damaged by large stones and logs scattered on the ground, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.

In Lembah Anai, a popular tourist spot with a waterfall in Tanah Datar, a road connecting the cities of Padang and Bukittinggi was badly damaged and access to cars was blocked.

At a nearby river, two trucks were swept away by the flood and strong river currents, the journalist said.

Dozens of houses and public facilities were damaged in Agam, the head of the district’s disaster management agency, Budi Perwira Negara, told AFP.

Nine bodies, including those of a three- and eight-year-old, had already been identified on Sunday, local rescue agency head Abdul Malik said in a statement.

Authorities dispatched a team of rescuers and inflatable boats to search for the missing victims and transport people to emergency shelters.

The local government set up evacuation centers and emergency posts in several areas of Agam and Tanah Datar districts.

Indonesia is prone to landslides and floods during the rainy season.

In March, at least 26 people were found dead after landslides and floods hit West Sumatra.

In 2022, floods on the island of Sumatra evacuated about 24,000 people and killed two children, with environmental activists blaming deforestation caused by deforestation for worsening the disaster.

Trees serve as natural flood protection and slow the rate at which water flows downhill and into rivers.

Marapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia.

It erupted in December, spewing a 3,000-meter tower of ash into the sky, taller than the volcano itself.

At least 24 climbers, most of them university students, died in the eruption.

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