Indonesia death toll rises to 248 after catastrophic flooding in Sumatra

Authorities in Indonesia are still battling to reach the victims in several devasted areas that have been submerged in torrential rain for the past week as rescue workers claim the death toll has reached 248 and will likely continue to rise.

More than 100 people are still missing after rescuers in West Sumatra’s Agam district recovered more bodies, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (also known as the BNPB).

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According to the BNPB, more than 500 people have also been hurt.

The death toll is said to be rising, with many missing and many still unaccounted bodies, according to Suharyanto, the BNPB’s head, who only has one name and is only one in Indonesian.

West Sumatra Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Ilham Wahab reported late on Friday that 61 people had died and 90 were missing, up from the initial 23-person death toll for the entire province of Sumatra.

According to Ilham, “West Sumatra has experienced 106, 806 people being affected, and 75, 219 people have been displaced overall.”

In Aceh province, according to figures released by authorities, there were at least 35 people who had died in North Sumatra, compared to 116 earlier confirmed deaths in North Sumatra.

After a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have experienced days of torrential rain, killing about 400 people overall.

Late on Friday, more than 3.5 million people were also impacted by floodwaters, and at least 145 people have been confirmed dead in Thailand’s eight southern provinces. In Malaysia’s neighbor, two people have been killed.

Despite the torrential rain’s end late on Friday, many people in Indonesia are still missing and thousands of families have been displaced.

In Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, the torrential downpours slammed into rivers’ banks, causing thousands of homes and structures to flood, sweeping through mountainside villages, and burying thousands of people in their foundations.

Damaged roads and downed communications lines have largely prevented rescue efforts in badly hit areas, with flooded roads, flooded roads, and a lack of heavy moving equipment.