1 Apr 2019

Search and rescue after Papua floods called off

1:45 pm on 1 April 2019

Search and rescue efforts in Papua's provincial capital Jayapura have been called off, where flash floods killed more than a hundred in recent weeks.

Indonesia, Papua province, Sentai, photos from 18 March 2019. On 16 March 2019, following extremely heavy rain that lasted seven hours, landslides and a flash flood struck the Indonesian province of Papua. Images show debris and damage as flood waters recede.

Photo: Martha Samori / Indonesian Red Cross

After torrential rain triggered flooding in mid-March, thousands have been displaced, hundreds of homes destroyed and around 90 people were missing.

However, the final death toll will likely remain at 112 after Indonesian authorities lifted an emergency status on Saturday, calling off the search for the missing.

A spokesperson for the national disaster management agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, told Xinhua news agency that a three-month transitional emergency period has been put in place.

Under the transition, all emergency status provisions would continue except search and rescue, he said.

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