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Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 15 people who died in flash flooding in two Indonesian provinces, while 10 others remain missing.
Torrential rains have caused flooding and landslides in East Nusa Tenggara province and on the tourist island of Bali.
Rescuers on Wednesday recovered the bodies of a mother and her child buried under mud in the worst-hit village of Mauponggo and a man in the neighbouring village of Loka laba in Nagekeo district of East Nusa Tenggara, officials said.
Previously, three members of a family were found dead after their house was swept away, and four people were missing in Mauponggo village.
In Bali, rescuers retrieved the body of a woman near the Badung market in Bali’s provincial capital of Denpasar, according to National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
He said rescuers are searching for six people still missing in the province.
Eight bodies were found earlier, including four people who were in a building that was swept away in the Kumbasari market area of South Denpasar, said Nyoman Sidakarya, the head of Bali’s Search and Rescue Agency.
Continuous heavy rains between Tuesday evening and Wednesday caused flooding and resulted in the deaths of five people in Bali’s capital Denpasar, Abdul Muhari, the spokesperson of the country’s disaster mitigation agency, said in a press release.
Out of 600 people affected, nearly 200 have been evacuated to schools and mosques because their houses were still flooded, the agency said.
The floods brought down two buildings in Denpasar, said I Nyoman Sidakarya, the head of the island’s search and rescue agency.
Videos on social media showed floods on major roads leading to complete gridlock.
Severe flooding inundated thousands of homes and buildings in residential areas and tourist spots. Authorities have cut electricity and water, prompting hotels, restaurants, hospitals and other public facilities to use generators, Bali Governor Wayan Koster said.
There have been landslides in Karangasem, Gianyar and Badung districts, which have swept through at least 15 shops and houses and damaged several roads and bridges, he said.
“This disaster also caused material losses for traders and tourism businesses,” Koster said, adding that more than 800 people were in temporary shelters after floodwater reached up to 2.5 metres in places.
Heavy rain also led to flooding in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara where four people have been killed, the disaster mitigation agency said.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto expressed his condolences and instructed the head of the national disaster agency to fly to Bali to lead the emergency response and ensure the basic needs of the people are met.
The agency had distributed tents, food, blankets, mattresses, water pumps, and rubber boats.
