Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains left close to 100 people dead or missing on the main Indonesian island of Java yesterday, officials said.
Landslides hit villages in densely populated central Java's Karanganyar and Wonogiri districts early yesterday after heavy downpours, with floods also swelling in several areas, leaving 42 dead and 42 missing, they said.
"The last report we received at 4pm shows that 66 people in nine areas in Karanganyar district are dead or missing," said Heru Aji Pratomo, head of a local disaster management center.
He said that 36 bodies had been retrieved. Seven of the areas he referred to were hit by landslides and two others were inundated by floods, he said.
Sri Mubadi, an official at the disaster management center in Wonogiri district, to the south, said that six bodies had been recovered but 12 others remained missing.
In Karanganyar, one family of four died after a landslide slammed into their home.
"The husband was actually evacuated and survived, but knowing that his wife and two children had died, he went into shock which made his condition worse. He later died," said Edi Susanto from Karanganyar's disaster management center.
A truck carrying three men also careened into a river as it tried to avoid a landslide.
"We've just found the three dead bodies in the river," Susanto said.
In Tawangmangu, the worst-hit area, hundreds of troops, police and residents combed through debris using their hands, shovels and wooden sticks to search for victims.
Pratomo said that the recovery of bodies would take at least two or three days.
"The conditions here are very bad and steep, so that we cannot use heavy machinery," Pratomo said.
TV footage showed flood evacuees clutching their belongings above their heads as they sloshed through muddy brown water reaching chest height.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono relayed his sympathies to the families of the deceased.
"The president sends his deepest condolences and has ordered the home affairs minister to coordinate with local officials and monitor the emergency response," his spokesman, Andi Mallarangeng, told Metro TV.
Meanwhile in East Java, where heavy rains have also been falling, at least 10 people were killed when a bridge was swept away by swelling flood waters, Andi Hartoyo, chief of police at Madiun district, told ElShinta radio.
"Based on several witnesses, at least 10 people were swept away by strong currents as they were standing on the bridge when it collapsed," he said.
"Local officials have been working on collecting data about missing people. We cannot start the search [for bodies or survivors] as the current is very strong now," Hartoyo said.
The Sinar Harapan afternoon newspaper reported that a family of four had also died in a separate landslide in East Java's Ngawi district, citing a local policeman.
And on the tourist haven of Bali, two Indonesians were killed when a small landslide, also triggered by heavy rains, hit their house in a village in Gianyar district, local policeman Sumantre said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS