JAKARTA (Bernama/Reuters): The number of people reported missing after flash floods in Nduga Regency in Indonesia’s Highland Papua province has risen to 23, up from 15 earlier, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said on Tuesday.
Eight people were newly reported missing in the Yuguru district, in addition to 15 in the Dal district who were swept away after ignoring warnings not to cross the Panpan River during heavy rain on Saturday.
"The Nduga Disaster Management Agency, together with emergency personnel and local residents, is conducting search and rescue operations,” said BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari in a statement.
According to the agency, parts of Southwest Papua were forecast on Tuesday to experience moderate to heavy rain, possibly accompanied by lightning and strong winds.
BNPB urged local authorities and residents to stay alert for floods and landslides, monitor weather updates, and be prepared to evacuate.
Indonesian authorities added on Tuesday that 15 people, mostly children, were killed after being swept away while crossing a river in the easternmost Papua region, while the search for eight children missing in another flood-hit village was ongoing.
He added that one body had been recovered and authorities were still searching for the others.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency has warned residents to be prepared for more floods with more heavy rain expected in several areas of Papua.
Rumbiak said the search was made more challenging by the Nduga region's "red zone" or conflict area status.
Papuan separatists have fought for independence in the resource-rich region ever since the area was controversially brought under Indonesian control following Dutch rule in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969.
The first location of the landslide was where a separatist group killed dozens of workers who were building a bridge in 2018.
A New Zealand pilot was also kidnapped in Nduga in 2023 before being released 19 months later. - Agencies
