LEMBATA, Indonesia – The death toll from mudslides in eastern Indonesia has risen to 126 with scores still missing, officials said Wednesday, as rain continued to pound the region and hamper the search.
East Flores district on Adonara island suffered the highest losses with 67 bodies recovered so far and six missing. Mud tumbled down from surrounding hills early on Sunday, catching people at sleep. Some were swept away by flash floods after overnight rains caused rivers to burst their banks.
On nearby Lembata island, the downpour triggered by Tropical Cyclone Seroja sent solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November to crash down on more than a dozen villages, killing at least 28 and leaving 44 unaccounted for, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
Hundreds of police, soldiers and residents dug through the debris with their bare hands, shovels and hoes searching for those buried. On Tuesday, relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull out a mud-caked body, place it on a bamboo stretcher and take it away for burial.
In all, landslides and flooding have killed at least 126 across several islands in Indonesia as well as 27 people in neighboring East Timor. Thousands of homes have been damaged and thousands of people displaced by the weather, which is expected to continue until at least Friday as the storm moves south toward Australia.
Rescue efforts were being hampered by the rains and the remoteness of the area, where roads and bridges were damaged in many places.
Rescue personnel with excavators and tons of food and medicine were being deployed from Makassar city on Sulawesi island, but were hindered by a lack of sea transportation. National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Doni Monardo called on the private sector to support relief efforts.
Three helicopters began reaching isolated areas of the islands on Tuesday, and President Joko Widodo held a Cabinet meeting in Jakarta to speed up the operation.
The disaster agency’s spokesperson Raditya Jati said three more helicopters with relief supplies and rescue personnel arrived Wednesday and a hospital ship carrying more goods was expected to arrive on Friday to relieve overwhelmed health clinics.
