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More than a thousand people have died after severe flooding and landslides swept across parts of Indonesia, rescuers confirmed on Saturday, as authorities continue to struggle with large-scale relief operations.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, the catastrophe has claimed at least 1,003 lives and left over 5,400 people injured. The destruction has unfolded over the past two weeks on Sumatra, Indonesia’s north-western island.
The relentless downpours rank among the most lethal natural disasters to hit Sumatra in recent years. The island is still scarred by memories of the 2004 tsunami that devastated Aceh province at its northern tip.
Officials fear the death toll will climb further, with 218 people still unaccounted for.
The scale of the damage has displaced around 1.2 million people, many of whom are now sheltering in temporary camps across affected regions.
Anger and frustration have been mounting among survivors, who say aid and recovery efforts have been slow to reach some communities.
President Prabowo Subianto sought to reassure the public on Saturday, saying conditions on the ground were improving and that areas previously cut off had become reachable.
“Here and there, due to natural and physical conditions, there have been slight delays, but I checked all the evacuation sites: their conditions are good, services for them are adequate, and food supplies are sufficient,” Prabowo said after touring Langkat district in North Sumatra.
Preliminary estimates suggest reconstruction costs could soar to 51.82 trillion rupiah ($3.1 billion). Despite the scale of the devastation, the Indonesian government has so far dismissed calls to seek international assistance.
