Death strikes stranded evacuees in isolated Sumatra shelters

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.