The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by cyclonic rains on Indonesia’s Sumatra island has climbed to 303, the country’s disaster mitigation agency confirmed on Saturday, up sharply from an earlier figure of 174.
Large parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been battered for a week by cyclone-fuelled torrential rain, with a rare tropical storm forming in the Malacca Strait. At least 279 people remain missing, while around 80,000 have been evacuated and hundreds are still stranded across three provinces in Sumatra, agency head Suharyanto told reporters.
Rescue teams have deployed helicopters to deliver aid and supplies to the northern part of the island, the worst-hit region where landslides have cut off roads and destroyed communications infrastructure. “We are trying to open the route from North Tapanuli to Sibolga, which is the most severely cut off for a third day,” Suharyanto said, adding that people trapped along blocked roads were in urgent need of assistance. He confirmed that military reinforcements would be sent on Sunday to bolster relief operations.
Authorities also reported attempts by desperate residents to ransack supplies in Central Tapanuli, one of the hardest-hit areas.
Across the Malacca Strait, Thailand has also suffered devastating floods, with the death toll in the country’s southern provinces rising to 162, government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat announced, up from 145 earlier in the week.