INDONESIA: SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS CONTINUES AS DEATH TOLL IN FLASH FLOODING AT THE GUNUNG LEUSER NATIONAL PARK ON SUMATRA RISES TO 170

Record ID: 646752

  • Title: INDONESIA: SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS CONTINUES AS DEATH TOLL IN FLASH FLOODING AT THE GUNUNG LEUSER NATIONAL PARK ON SUMATRA RISES TO 170
  • Date: 4th November 2003
  • Summary: (U3) LANGKAT DISTRICT, NORTH SUMATRA, INDONESIA (NOVEMBER 4, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. ENTRANCE WAY TO GUNUNG LEUSER NATIONAL PARK ROPED-OFF WITH POLICE TAPE 0.03 2. VARIOUS OF DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS AND CARS FOLLOWING FLASH FLOOD ALONG BAHOROK RIVER (3 SHOTS) 0.18 3. WS/MV: RIVER BANK (2 SHOTS) 0.28 4. WIDE OF AREA WITH RESCUE WORKERS 0.35 5. RESCUE WORKERS CARRYING DEAD BODY 0.41 6. VICTIMS' FAMILIES CRYING 0.47 7. CU/SCU: MORE FAMILY MEMBERS OF FLOOD VICTIM (2 SHOTS) 0.57 8. VARIOUS: VILLAGERS SURROUNDING FLASH FLOOD VICTIMS (4 SHOTS) 1.17 9. SURVIVORS AND FAMILY MEMBERS 1.23 10. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) BAMBANG, A SURVIVOR, SAYING "I was hit by a three-meter-high water flash flood. Ten members of my family are still missing and I have no idea how they are." 1.35 11. MORE OF VILLAGERS AROUND BODIES 1.40 12. WS: MORE DESTRUCTION FOLLOWING FLASH FLOOD 1.46 13. NORTH SUMATRA GOVERNOR, RIZAL NURDIN, VISITING DISASTER SITE 1.50 14. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) GOVERNOR NURDIN, SAYING "This was a very unexpected and undesired event. The death toll up to now is 170 according to available data that we have." 2.16 15. VARIOUS OF DEMOLISHED BUILDINGS 2.19 16. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) GOVERNOR NURDIN, SAYING: "I think it was caused by illegal and uncontrolled logging. I believe there was unchecked logging in the area." 2.42 17. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BUILDINGS (2 SHOTS) 2.57 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 19th November 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LANGKAT DISTRICT, NORTH SUMATRA, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Reuters ID: LVA84TUM5WUL65LNXS57FOD17GWM
  • Story Text: Indonesians continue to search for flood survivors
    as the death toll rises to 170.


    Rescuers searched for people still missing on
    Tuesday (November 4) following a flash flood that swept
    through a nature resort, killing up to 170 people including
    foreign tourists.

    Officials said the death toll could rise as the search
    through the wreckage of logs, boulders and collapsed
    guesthouses continued into its second day.

    Mangled houses perched on eroded banks along the
    Barohok river which cuts through one of Indonesia's biggest
    national parks.

    Upended tree roots as tall as two-storey houses were
    tangled with the remains of homes, trucks and other
    vehicles.

    Rain, mud and collapsed roads and bridges in the Gunung
    Leuser national park on Sumatra island were hampering
    rescue work, officials said.

    The park boasts rare animals including rhinos and
    tigers and is also home to a popular rehabilitation centre
    for orang-utans.

    Survivors recalled their harrowing experience following
    the deadly flash floods that swept through the resort town.

    "I was hit by a three-meter-high water flash flood. Ten
    members of my family are still missing and I have no idea
    how they are," said
    survivor Bambang.

    Torrential rains caused a river in the Gunung Leuser
    national park on Sumatra island to burst its banks in the
    early hours of Monday morning (November 3), sweeping away
    roads, bridges and budget guesthouses popular with foreign
    backpackers and local tourists.

    "This was a very unexpected and undesired event. The
    death toll up to now is 170 according to available data
    that we have," North Sumatra Governor Rizal Nurdin told
    reporters at the site.

    Officials have blamed rampant illegal logging as at
    least partly responsible for the flooding.

    "I think it was caused by illegal and uncontrolled
    logging. I believe there were unchecked logging in the
    area," Nurdin said.

    The guesthouses in Bukit Lawang village, some as cheap
    as a dollar or two a day, mostly catered to foreign
    backpackers and Indonesian tourists.

    But the number of foreigners visiting Indonesia has
    dropped sharply since Muslim militants blew up two Bali
    nightclubs last year, killing 202 people, mostly young
    Western holidaymakers.

    The body of a 26-year-old German woman was identified
    on Tuesday (November 4), bringing the total foreign
    tourists identified to four Europeans and a Singaporean.

    Officials have identified the other foreigners as a
    20-year-old German woman, a 40-year-old Austrian woman and
    a 67-year-old Singaporean man. There was some dispute over
    the identity of a fifth victim, a man described as German
    or Swiss.

    The bodies of the five foreign tourists had been
    evacuated to Adam Malik hospital in Medan, 1,425 km (880
    miles) northwest of Jakarta.
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