Jakarta-Sana
The death toll from floods and landslides as a result of the torrential rains that hit Indonesia and East Timor yesterday rose to 71 dead and tens of missing, in addition to the displacement of thousands.
"There are 55 dead, but this number will definitely change, while about 42 people are still missing," Agence France-Presse quoted a spokesman for the disaster management agency in Indonesia, Raditiya Jati, as saying.
A previous toll indicated 44 dead and thousands of people displaced by these rains and floods in Indonesia.
At least 16 people were killed in East Timor, according to an official source.
The floods caused by torrential rains wreaked havoc on the island of Flores all the way to East Timor, in the east of the Indonesian archipelago. These rains and the landslides that followed led to flooding dams, flooding hundreds of homes, as mud buried dozens of other homes, while bridges and roads were destroyed in the far east of the island, and the weather conditions are expected to continue. Prevailing throughout the week in the region.
And Indonesia often witnesses deaths due to landslides and floods in the rainy season, especially while environmental advocates stress that cutting down forests has exacerbated these disasters.
