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Flash floods, earthquake in Indonesia kill over 80

Published:Monday | March 18, 2019 | 12:00 AM

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — The number of people killed after torrential downpours triggered flash floods and mudslides that tore through mountainside villages in Indonesia’s easternmost province has climbed to 79, with dozens of others missing, officials said Monday.

On Sunday, the disaster-prone country was hit by an earthquake, triggering a landslide that hit a popular waterfall on the tourist island of Lombok, killing at least three people and damaging hundreds of homes.

The worst-hit area from the flooding was Sentani subdistrict, where tons of mud, rocks and trees from a landslide on a mountain early Sunday rolled down to a river that burst its banks, sweeping away residents, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference in the capital, Jakarta.

Floodwaters and landslides destroyed roads and bridges in several areas of Papua province’s Jayapura district following days of torrential rains, hampering rescue efforts, Nugroho said.

“The combination of natural factors and human activities has caused this fatal disaster,” he said.

Nugroho said 79 bodies had been pulled from the mud and wreckage of crumpled homes by Sunday.

Another 74 people were hospitalised, many with broken bones and head wounds.

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