Massive hunt for survivors after Indonesian floods

RESCUERS combed through debris and mud for victims of flash floods that inundated villages in Indonesia’s east Java as the death toll rose to 57, officials said.

Thousands sought shelter, medical care and food yesterday in the wake of the disaster, which environmentalists have blamed on rampant illegal logging on Java, one of the world’s most densely-populated islands.

Most of the villagers lived on coffee plantations and river banks where many trees had been felled, stripping the area of natural protection from such a disaster.

Local police officer Agus Ilham said the hunt for more victims after the floods, which swept away hundreds of homes in the Jember district, 800 kilometres east of the capital, continued in poor weather.

Rescue efforts were also hampered by transport difficulties, he told AFP.

Erman Harjoprayitno, from the disaster co-ordinating agency in the city of Surabaya, said the toll stood at 57 dead and 50 injured.

“The injured have been taken to local clinics and hospitals,” he said.

The floods followed two days of monsoon rains which caused a river to swell and burst its banks.

Local journalist Budi Sugiharto said the scene in the flooded zone was reminiscent of the December 2004 tsunami that devastated Indonesia’s Aceh province on Sumatra island.

“The devastation in areas near the river banks reminds me of the destruction caused by the tsunami. Houses were flattened, with only the foundations remaining,” he said.