Flooding in Indonesia claims 23 lives, displaces thousands

Deadly flooding occasioned by rainfall reported to be more than three times the average amount, recorded in Jakarta and West Java in Indonesia has claimed no fewer than 23 lives and has left thousands displaced.

Reports say scores of residents were forced to evacuate their homes after severe flooding hit Indonesia’s capital with tens of thousands of revellers in Jakarta soaked by torrential rains as they waited for New Year’s eve fireworks on Wednesday.

According to Agus Wibowo, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman, the monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged at least 90 neighbourhoods and triggered a landslide in Kota Depok, a city in the capital Jakarta.

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Reacting after the incident, Al-Latif Ilyas Darmawan, the father of the victim, said that the rescuers could not save his son, Arviqo Alif Ardana.

“I did not know what had happened until his younger brother came and told me that his brother had died and when I came to the scene, people said that my child was electrocuted when he was holding a lamp post and tried to be rescued by local residents (but failed and died),” he said.

Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, BNPB, said that at least 23 people were killed during the deadly floods including eight in the capital, Jakarta, and three in Kota Depok.

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