Indonesia’s Sumatra Island witnessed heavy rains triggering flash floods which unveiled torrents of mud and cold lava down the slopes of a volcano over the weekend.
This resulted in a rise of death cases to a total of 41.
AFP reported that 17 others went missing as of Monday, reported Al Jazeera.
Two districts of Sumatra island witnessed one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes in its full-fledged state on Saturday evening.
Thus, heavy rains occurred due to which huge volcanic rocks rolled down.
Thus, the region’s mosques, homes, and roads were flooded with water.
West Sumatra disaster mitigation agency official, Ilham Wahab told AFP that, “Data of last night, we recorded 37 dead victims… But from this morning it has grown again, the figure reached 41 (dead).”
Indonesia Flood Statistics
A total of 17 persons are reportedly missing. 14 of them in Tanah Datar and three in Agam district. Constant rescue operation is continuing to search for missing people.
Furthermore, this areas have been affected badly due to the heavy rain and volcano but it is home to hundreds of thousands of people.
The report added that, the head of search and rescue agency, Abdul Malik stated that two dead bodies of kids were retrieved on Sunday along with many others.
Ilham Wahab stated, “We are focused on first, searching and rescuing the victims, second, protecting the evacuees, protecting the vulnerable people.”
As per West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi Ansharullah’s statement which was issued on Monday, over 2000 people were rescued and 130 people were evacuated to a school in Agam and in several places in Tanah Datar.
According to Times Now, Indonesia witnessed one of it’s deadliest rain and volcanic eruption together. Due to heavy rains, muddy flood waters swept away vehicles and belongings into a nearby river, flooding the entire neighborhood.
Moreover, myriad of large rocks and volcanic ash rolled down Mount Merapi.
The authorities even sent a bunch of rubber boats and a team of rescuers to rescue the missing victims.
Local government of Agam and Tanah Datar have set up emergency posts and evacuation centres in several areas of the districts.
