In Indonesia, the death toll from floods and cold lava flows rises to 41

For hours on Saturday, torrential rains fell on the west of the island of Sumatra. In total, 17 people are missing, according to emergency services.

The toll from floods and cold lava flows on the island of Sumatra, in western Indonesia, has risen to 41 dead and 17 missing, an official from the local disaster agency announced on Monday, May 13. disaster management.

During the night from Sunday to Monday, “we recorded 37 dead victims… But since this morning [lundi], the figure increased further, reaching 41″ dead, said Ilham Wahab, head of the West Sumatra disaster management agency. He added that rescuers were searching for 17 people still missing.

Torrential rains fell for several hours on Saturday evening around 10:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. GMT) in the districts of Agam and Tanah Datar, in the west of the island of Sumatra, causing flash floods and cold lava flows from of Mount Marapi, a volcano on the island.

Roads turned into muddy rivers

Three people are missing in the district of Agam and 14 in that of Tanah Datar, the two areas most affected by the floods and which are home to hundreds of thousands of people, Ilham Wahab said. He could not confirm the number of people evacuated as authorities encouraged “people to be evacuated to the places of residence of their loved ones, which are safer”.

Cold lava is a magma formed by the various materials that make up the walls of a volcano: ash, sand and rocks. Under the effect of rain, these can mix and flow along the crater.

Roads in the districts were transformed into muddy rivers as rainfall engulfed homes and washed away vehicles into a nearby river.