Death Toll in Floods Rises to 12
JAKARTA ~ The death toll from extensive flooding that hit a district of densely populated East Java last week has risen to 12, a health official said.
Water as high as one meter submerged Situbondo district from Friday evening but began receding a day later.
“On the Situbondo floods … the number of those who died is at 12,” Rustam Pakaya, a Health Ministry official, said.
He said that eight other flood victims were in hospital while several dozen others had been injured.
The ministry was sending more aid to the area, Pakaya said.
Landslides and flooding are common in Indonesia during the rainy season, which hits its peak from December to February.
Four people died in floods that hit East Nusa Tenggara province on Friday.
Torrential rain across Central and East Java provinces at the start of the year triggered landslides and floods that killed more than 100 people and displaced tens of thousands.
Filed under: The Nation