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Rescue teams in Indonesia are still struggling to reach communities devastated by a week of cyclone-driven torrential rain, as the death toll continues to climb.
At least 248 people had died, according to authorities on Saturday, and the number is expected to rise, Al Jazeera reported. Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said rescuers in West Sumatra's Agam district recovered more bodies on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to 248. More than 100 people remain missing, and over 500 have been injured. "The death toll is believed to be increasing, since many bodies are still missing, while many have not been reached," said Suharyanto, head of the BNPB, who, like many Indonesians, only uses one name. Initial reports put the provincial death toll at 23, but the West Sumatra Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency later revised it sharply upward. Spokesman Ilham Wahab said on Friday night that 61 people had died and 90 were still missing, as per Al Jazeera. "A total of 75,219 people have been displaced, and a total of 106,806 people have been affected throughout West Sumatra," Ilham said. The devastation extends beyond West Sumatra. Authorities confirmed 116 deaths in North Sumatra and at least 35 in Aceh province. The flooding is part of a wider regional disaster affecting Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. A rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, unloading days of non-stop rain that has killed around 400 people across the three countries. In Thailand, at least 145 people have died across eight southern provinces, and more than 3.5 million people have been affected by floodwaters. Malaysia has reported two fatalities. Although the rain finally eased late on Friday, countless families in Indonesia remain displaced, and many areas are still unreachable. In North Sumatra, overflowing rivers sent torrents of water crashing through mountainside villages, sweeping away residents and submerging thousands of homes, according to Al Jazeera. Access to badly hit areas remains extremely difficult. Roads are damaged, communications are down, and many bridges have collapsed. Flooded roads and shortages of heavy machinery have slowed rescue and relief operations. Relief aircraft are continuing to fly supplies into Central Tapanuli in North Sumatra and other isolated districts, but officials warn that recovery efforts will take time. (ANI)
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