Indonesia Flash Floods: Death Toll Hits 77

By Staff, Agencies

Flash floods in Indonesia's eastern Papua province have so far claimed the lives of at least 77 people, the disaster agency said Monday as it raised the death toll from 58.

More than three dozen people remain missing, while scores have been injured in the disaster, triggered by torrential rain and landslides.

"The death toll could still go up with 43 people unaccounted for," said national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Rescuers battled mud, rocks and fallen trees in the hunt for survivors, as medical personnel treated the wounded and thousands were evacuated from the northeastern town of Sentani.

Indonesia has issued a 14-day state of emergency in response to the floods.

Papua shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea on an island just north of Australia.

Flooding is common in Indonesia, especially during the rainy season which runs from October to April.

In January, floods and landslides killed at least 70 people on Sulawesi Island, while earlier this month hundreds in West Java province were forced to evacuate when torrential rains triggered severe flooding.