El número de muertos por inundaciones y deslaves en Sumatra, Indonesia, sube a 248 – Chicago Tribune

By NINIEK KARMINI and KASPARMAN PILIANG

AGAM, Indonesia (AP) — Rescue teams in Indonesia struggled to transport victims in various areas devastated by land and floods that left 248 dead, although authorities increased the number.

The areas are largely established by damaged roads and damaged communication lines; Company planes are making contact with aid and relief workers in the Central Tapanuli district of Sumatra del Norte province and other heavily affected parts of the region. Rescue work is also hampered by damaged bridges and roads and a lack of equipment.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said survivors in West Sumatra’s Agam district recovered more bodies, increasing the death toll to 248 with more than 500 people dying.

The monzonic rains of the last week occur earlier than the rivers flow in the province of Sumatra del Norte. The flood hit buildings high in the mountains, and transported people and kilometers of homes and buildings, according to BNPB. Casi 3,000 families displaced from Huyeron to government shelters.

There was a desperate need for heavy teams to go to possible landfalls under lodo tones and rocks in Agam district, as survivors recovered the most bodies, raising the death toll to 74 alone in West Sumatra by Saturday, said Rahmat Lesmono of the local disaster office. Unas 78 people seguían disappeared in three aldeas in Agam.

The familiars lloraban minetras observaban a los rescatistas sacar cuerpos cubiertos de lodo of a house entered in the aldea of ​​Salareh Aia en Agam.

Authorities are battling to transport tractors and other equipment on busy roads after torrential rains send torrents and rocks into aldeas montañosas in Aceh province. The police, soldiers and residents cavaron between the escombros with their hands bare, palas and azadas monters la fuerte luvia dificultaba sus esfuerzos.

“It is said that the number of deaths is increasing, because many bodies are excavated and many have not been touched,” Suharyanto said.

The television news shows the rescuers fighting against the strong corrientes in a small boat from Goma, who move towards a man aferrado to a cocotero.

The authorities of the province of Aceh say that the rescuers are having difficulty bringing the victims. Affected areas also require additional socorro, fuel, fresh water and generators.

“There is a lot of disaffection,” said Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf after declaring a state of emergency on December 11 to fight the disaster. “We have to do much more pronto, but the conditions do not allow us to do so.”

Local circles report that the floods occurred in the Bireuen district of Aceh, which caused new bridges, paralyzing the transportation of the two routes from the city of Medan in North Sumatra to Banda Aceh and forcing residents to cross the river from the building by boat.

It is the most recent natural disaster in Indonesia, which is frequently affected by land motorcycling, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis due to its location in the “Anillo de Fuego”, an arc of volcanoes and falls in the Cuenca del Pacífico.

Sewage frequently causes flooding and land destruction in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile land.

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Karmini informed from Yakarta, Indonesia.

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This story was translated into English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.