43 Dead, 15 Missing in West Sumatra's Flash Flood and Cold Lava Flow
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Editor
13 May 2024 19:39 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that the death toll from the flash flood and cold lava flow in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra has reached 43 people as of May 13 at 13:00 local time.
The agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari said the SAR team found six dead bodies. Five of them were Tanah Datar residents and the other one was a Padang Pariaman resident. Four bodies were still being identified.
Abdul outlined that as of this afternoon, the casualties were reported from Agam Regency (19 people), Tanah Datar Regency (14), Padang Pariaman Regency (8), and Padang Panjang Regency (2), with an additional 15 residents still missing.
“This incident also compelled residents to evacuate themselves and flee to safer places,” Abdul said in an official statement quoted on Monday, May 13.
He said 1,159 people in Agam Regency and 2,039 people in Tanah Datar Regency were evacuated. The joint team of the Tanah Datar Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police, and volunteers continued emergency operations in the affected areas.
Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), said in an online press conference on Sunday that the flash flood was caused not only by the lava flow from Mount Marapi's eruption and torrential rains but also the shaking of active shallow crustal earthquakes in the province.
“The BMKG has detected small earthquakes of about 3 magnitudes in the past month, which were quite capable of cracking rocks or causing rock collapses in many places,” she said, suspecting that the rockfall had blocked the flow of Marapi's upstream river. The cracks caused by the quakes can also easily turn into landslides after days of moderate to heavy rain, leading to a catastrophic situation.
IRSYAN HASYIM
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