Death toll from flooding rises to 43 in Jakarta

Monitoring Desk

JAKARTA: The death toll from severe flooding and landslides that struck the Indonesian capital Jakarta over the New Year rose to 43, the state-run disaster management agency said Friday. The deaths were caused by hypothermia, drowning, electric shocks and landslides, Agus Wibowo, the spokesman of Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency, told reporters.

“One person is reportedly missing and five others are waiting to be verified,” he said. The agency called on people whose homes are still flooded to immediately evacuate to a safe place to avoid more casualties. The country’s Meteorology and Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicted that heavy rains will continue to hit Jakarta and nearby towns until Jan. 10. A total of 169 areas were reported to be inundated by floods around Indonesia on Wednesday, with 63 in Jakarta, 97 in West Java and nine spots in western Banten province. BMKG recorded rainfall intensity on New Year’s Eve at 377 millimeters (mm) per day, the highest since 2007 when it reached 340 mm per day.(AA)