Death strikes stranded evacuees in isolated Sumatra shelters
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Indonesian Air Force personnel preparing to airdrop aid from a military transport aircraft in the flood-affected and isolated Gayo Lues area in Aceh on Dec 7.
PHOTO: AFP
JAKARTA – Suffering through days without clean water or proper medical care, evacuees packed into emergency shelters across three provinces in the northern part of Sumatra are falling severely ill, with some reportedly dying before help can reach them, as the region’s floods and landslides continue to isolate entire communities.
Indonesia continues to reel from the hydrometeorological disaster that first struck Aceh, West Sumatra and North Sumatra two weeks ago, with more than 1,000 deaths, hundreds missing, more than 5,000 injured, over 152,000 houses destroyed and around 1,200 public facilities damaged across 52 regencies.
