Indonesia’s disaster agency has said that the number of people killed by floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island rose to 708 on Tuesday, with 504 people missing.
According to media reports, the toll was a sharp increase from the 604 dead reported by the agency on Monday.
Recall that heavy monsoon rains and tropical cyclones devastated parts of Asia this week, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka and southern Thailand, killing more than 1,300 people across the region, destroying infrastructure and inundating towns.
About 3.2 million people have been affected and 2,600 injured in Indonesia alone. A million people have been evacuated from high-risk areas. It was earlier reported that 753 people had died, but the figure was revised down to 708 on Tuesday evening.
Aid workers and response teams are racing to reach survivors, but have been hampered by blocked roads and broken bridges. Some areas, including Tapanuli Tengah in North Sumatra and Agam in Aceh, were inaccessible by road, according to Unicef.
In Aceh, one of the hardest-hit areas, markets are running out of rice, vegetables and other essentials, and prices have tripled, according to Islamic Relief, which is sending 12 tonnes of emergency food aid. “Communities across Aceh are at severe risk of food shortages and hunger if supply lines are not re-established in the next seven days,” the charity said.
The Indonesian government said on Monday it was sending 34,000 tonnes of rice and 6.8m litres of cooking oil to Aceh, as well as the provinces North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
