JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers are searching for passengers trapped in a minibus buried in mud after flash floods and landslides hit several locations in North Sumatra province, killing at least 27, an official said on Thursday.
Torrential rain in the province since last week had caused flash floods and landslides in four different districts, Indonesia’s disaster agency has said.
A landslide in a village in Deli Serdang on Wednesday killed seven and injured 20, Hadi Wahyudi, North Sumatra police spokesperson told Reuters.
Rescuers were looking for missing people, including those trapped in a minibus and other vehicles on a hilly interprovince road hit by a mudslide, he said, adding he could not give an estimate for the number of affected people.
In other places, rescuers have found 20 dead during a search that started over the weekend. They are still searching for two missing.
“Today, we’re focusing our search to find missing people and clearing the roads affected by the landslides,” said Hadi, adding excavators were deployed.
The landslides and flash floods damaged houses, mosques, and rice fields.
Heavy rains also triggered floods in the provincial capital of Medan, forcing a delay in votes for a regional election in some polling stations.
Extreme weather is expected in Indonesia toward the end of 2024, as the La Nina phenomenon increases rainfalls across the tropical archipelago, the country’s weather agency has warned.
Landslides in Indonesia’s Sumatra kill at least 27, rescuers search for missing
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Landslides in Indonesia’s Sumatra kill at least 27, rescuers search for missing
- Torrential rain in the province since last week had caused flash floods and landslides in four different districts
- Extreme weather is expected in Indonesia toward the end of 2024, as the La Nina phenomenon increases rainfalls across the tropical archipelago
Zelensky visits Kupiansk as Ukraine retakes parts of frontline town
- “Today it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy,” Zelensky said
- Ukraine’s Khartiia Corps of the National Guard said it had liberated several northern districts of Kupiansk
KYIV: Ukrainian forces said they had retaken parts of the northeastern town of Kupiansk and had encircled Russian troops there as President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the area and praised the operation, saying it strengthened Ukraine diplomatically.
With US-backed peace efforts underway, Moscow has said it is advancing on all fronts and that it has seized Kupiansk and the strategic city of Pokrovsk in the east. Kyiv has denied this, saying that the fighting is continuing.
In a video clip posted on his social media account on Friday, Zelensky, wearing a bulletproof vest, is seen standing in front of a sign bearing the town’s name at the entrance to Kupiansk.
“Today it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy,” Zelensky said in the clip.
RUSSIANS IN KUPIANSK ‘COMPLETELY CUT OFF’, KYIV SAYS
Ukraine’s Khartiia Corps of the National Guard said it had liberated several northern districts of Kupiansk.
Russian supply routes have been cut off and several hundred Russian troops are surrounded, Khartiia said on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.
“Today, we can say that the Russians in the city are completely cut off. For a long time, they couldn’t understand what was happening. But now they know they are surrounded,” Ihor Obolienskyi, Khartiia’s commander, was quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet as saying.
Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian assertions.
Ukraine’s Deep State battlefield mapping project now shows at least three villages to the north and west of Kupiansk under Ukrainian control.
Kupiansk’s northern districts are also shown as being under Ukrainian control, and the map suggests Russian troops are encircled in the city center.
Military analysts said that in November, the pace of Russian advances had picked up to its highest this year as troops moved forward, taking control of smaller villages.
Russia said on Thursday it had captured the eastern town of Siversk. Kyiv said it remained under Ukrainian control.
