Flooding kills 20 in Aceh, Indonesia

Xinhua News Agency
29 April, 2005

JAKARTA: Flash floods swept through a village in the tsunami-hit Aceh Province, leaving 20 people dead, 10 missing and 28 others wounded, according to the Media Indonesia here Friday.

Hundreds of villagers were internally displaced to other places for safety as their houses were destroyed by the floods, it said.

Rescue workers were still sifting through the debris and mud to find survivors.

The waters also damaged infrastructures such as roads and bridges, which hampered evacuations, said Darmansyah, an official of the Southeast Aceh regent office.

Illegal logging and heavy rains were the cause of the disaster, said Director of Indonesian Forum for Environment for Aceh Province Bambang Antariksa.

Aceh Province was hit by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in December last year, which killed over 200,000 and caused widespread destruction.