Rain hinders rescue efforts
Source: Agencies |
October 7, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HELICOPTERS dropped food to isolated villages and security forces helped search for survivors as the number of people killed by floods and landslides across Asia climbed yesterday to more than 100.
Three-quarters of the deaths were in east Indonesia, where days of torrential downpours caused tons of mud and debris to crash into hillside villages, damaging hundreds of homes.
In central Vietnam, where at least 26 people died, helicopters helped deliver food and water to people in villages cut off by high water.
In Indonesia's West Papua province, a river burst its banks early this week in hardest-hit Wasior, sweeping away residents in a fast-moving deluge of water and heavy logs.
"Many people didn't have time to save themselves," said one villager, Ira Wanoni.
With roads and bridges across the province destroyed, it took days for help to arrive. It wasn't until a navy ship arrived yesterday, carrying soldiers and police, that the extent of the damage became clear.
Dortheis Sawaki, the head of local relief operations, said rescuers had pulled 75 bodies from the mud and the wreckage of crumpled homes, but he believed dozens more were still missing.
Another 90 people were hospitalized, many with broken bones. Some had to be evacuated by helicopter and, as hospitals in the district of Manokwari in the province became overwhelmed, others were taken by ship to neighboring provinces.
"There are just too many injuries," said Sawaki, adding that some medical facilities had been hit by power outages and downed phone lines. "We can't handle it alone."
In Vietnam, 11 bodies were recovered from the worst-hit province of Quang Binh, where authorities were also searching for five sailors from a sunken barge, disaster official Nguyen Ngoc Giai said.
At least seven others were found in Ha Tinh province, five in Nghe An and three in Quang Tri, officials there reported, as floodwaters slowly started to recede.
Seasonal rain across Asia causes floods and landslides every year, killing hundreds of people across the region.
Three-quarters of the deaths were in east Indonesia, where days of torrential downpours caused tons of mud and debris to crash into hillside villages, damaging hundreds of homes.
In central Vietnam, where at least 26 people died, helicopters helped deliver food and water to people in villages cut off by high water.
In Indonesia's West Papua province, a river burst its banks early this week in hardest-hit Wasior, sweeping away residents in a fast-moving deluge of water and heavy logs.
"Many people didn't have time to save themselves," said one villager, Ira Wanoni.
With roads and bridges across the province destroyed, it took days for help to arrive. It wasn't until a navy ship arrived yesterday, carrying soldiers and police, that the extent of the damage became clear.
Dortheis Sawaki, the head of local relief operations, said rescuers had pulled 75 bodies from the mud and the wreckage of crumpled homes, but he believed dozens more were still missing.
Another 90 people were hospitalized, many with broken bones. Some had to be evacuated by helicopter and, as hospitals in the district of Manokwari in the province became overwhelmed, others were taken by ship to neighboring provinces.
"There are just too many injuries," said Sawaki, adding that some medical facilities had been hit by power outages and downed phone lines. "We can't handle it alone."
In Vietnam, 11 bodies were recovered from the worst-hit province of Quang Binh, where authorities were also searching for five sailors from a sunken barge, disaster official Nguyen Ngoc Giai said.
At least seven others were found in Ha Tinh province, five in Nghe An and three in Quang Tri, officials there reported, as floodwaters slowly started to recede.
Seasonal rain across Asia causes floods and landslides every year, killing hundreds of people across the region.
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