At least 15 people were killed and dozens were missing Monday after flash floods smashed through a district in eastern Indonesia's West Papua province, officials said. The early morning floods were unleashed after continuous torrential downpours that began late Sunday in Teluk Wondama district.
"Fifteen bodies have been found," provincial official ML Rumadap told AFP. Thousands of buildings including houses, schools and offices were badly damaged and bridges had collapsed, he added. "The waters have subsided a little but it's still raining so many people are still scared and nervous," he said.
One resident, Lubis, told AFP the floods were about three metres deep.
"The waters swept my motorcycle to the roof. We don't know where to run. Like me, some of my neighbours are on the rooftops. Others are on the trees and lamp-posts," he said.
A local official said that hundreds of people had been displaced and sought refuge in uphill areas. "Many children went missing," district spokeswoman Titi Ningsih Winzer said, according to the Kompas news website. National disaster management centre spokesman Priyadi Kardono earlier said "dozens" were still missing.
Rescuers were struggling to get to the affected areas as "many trees have fallen down and blocked the roads," he added. National Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Gagah Prakoso said a 12-man team with a 150-seat rescue boat was on its way to the area. "But we're having difficulty trying to reach the officials there yet as the phone signal is down," he told AFP. Floods and landslides are common in Indonesia, which is prone to frequent heavy rain.
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