At least 58 people have been killed and 74 others injured after flashfloods hit a district in the easternmost Indonesian province of Papua late Saturday, authorities said Sunday.
The flashfloods, which followed torrential rain, damaged 350 homes and inundated about 150 others in the suburbs of Jayapura, the provincial capital, National Disaster Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
(Flashfloods hit Sentani District in Indonesia's eastermost province of Papua on March 16, 2019.)[Photo courtesy of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency]
"The figures will likely increase and the extent of damage will likely be worse as not all affected areas have been covered by rescuers," Sutopo told a press conference.
A plane was also damaged by floodwater that hit Sentani airport in Sentani District, the main airport in the province.
(A Twin Otter plane parking at the Sentani airport in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua was damaged by flashfloods in Sentani District on March 16, 2019.)[Photo courtesy of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency]
"The damage might be more extensive, but we are still collecting information," Sutopo said, speculating that the flashfloods may have occurred after landslides blocked rivers.
William Manderi, chief of the Papua Provincial Disaster Mitigation Agency, said the landslides likely occurred on the slopes of the Cycloop Mountains, near Sentani, that have been deforested.
(Over 100 of people displaced by flashfloods in Sentani District in Indonesia's easternmost Papua Province are taking refuge at the local office of the National Search and Rescue Agency on March 16, 2019.)[Photo courtesy of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency]
