17 Mar 2019; DW: Flash floods and mudslides in Indonesia's Papua province have killed at least 58 people and injured more than 70 others, local officials said Sunday. Thousands of people have been left homeless.
The flooding was due to torrential rain, which hit the provincial capital of Jayapura beginning Saturday.
Nine villages flooded
The water has submerged more than 150 houses in the badly hit Sentani area near Jayapura, said Sutopo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
He added that nine villages in Jayapura had been flooded and three bridges damaged.
"Waters have now receded, leaving mud, logs and other materials carried by the flash floods," Nugroho said in a statement, adding that the death toll "will probably increase because the evacuation process is still taking place and not all affected areas have been reached."
More than 4,000 people were staying in temporary shelters, with authorities, the Red Cross and volunteers helping the displaced.
The province's administration has declared a two-week emergency in order to get assistance from the central government.
Papua is Indonesia's easternmost province. It shares an island with the nation of Papua New Guinea.
Flooding is fairly common during Indonesia's rainy season, which runs from October to April. In January, floods and landslides killed at least 70 people on Sulawesi Island. Severe inundation triggered by downpours in West Java province earlier this month also prompted hundreds of people to flee their homes.
