Indonesia: flood kills 29 in Bengkulu

The aerial view of flood in Bengkulu (Source: antaranews)

Flood and landslides, which hit Bengkulu province on Indonesia’s Sumatra island on April 26, have claimed 29 lives and made 13 others missing.

According to the April 29 report by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the disasters destroyed 184 houses and seven schools. Around 13,000 residents were affected by flood and landslides, with 12,000 of them forced to leave their inundated houses and stay in temporary shelters.

Environmental activists highlighted the existence of eight coal mining companies operating in the Bukit Daun Protection Forest buffer zone which is the upstream water catchment area of the Air Bengkulu River which overflowed due to heavy rain and caused flooding to soak the Central Bengkulu region and Bengkulu City.

The BNPB has offered aid reaching 2.25 billion Rp (161 million USD) for handling the impact of the disasters.

VNA