Flooding in Jakarta kills at least 15, displaces thousands

USPA News - Days of torrential rains across the Indonesian capital of Jakarta have claimed the lives of at least fifteen people and left thousands of people homeless, local authorities said on Saturday. A state of emergency has been declared in the region.

Jakarta and outlying areas have experienced heavy rains since Tuesday, causing rivers to overflow and triggering extensive flooding. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia`s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said the death toll stood at 15 as of late Saturday. Nugroho said rescue workers recovered the body of an unidentified man at around 5:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, followed hours later by the discovery of another body inside a flooded building. "As such, the number of people killed since Tuesday as a result of the flooding in Jakarta has risen to 15," he said. Among those killed are at least three children, Nugroho said. A two-year-old child was killed at his house in West Jakarta when he woke up and fell from his bed into floodwaters while his mother was in the kitchen. Two 13-year-old children were also killed, including one who slipped and was washed away into a river and one who was electrocuted at his house. The floods have inundated approximately 8 percent of Jakarta`s geographical area, spreading across 74 villages in 31 sub-districts. It is believed the floods have affected nearly 250,000 people, including more than 18,000 people who have been displaced, with East Jakarta being the worst affected area. Despite the disaster and ongoing rainfall, most businesses in the least affected areas resumed their operations on Friday. But some parts of Jakarta remained inaccessible on Saturday, with electricity cut off in some areas. Main roads in the city are accessible, although train services remain closed in parts of the capital. In February 2007, at least 80 people were killed when torrential rains flooded over 200 square kilometers (77.22 square miles) in Jakarta, making it the worst floods in the capital in recent history.