At least 42 killed, dozens missing as flash floods strike Indonesia's Papua

JAKARTA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 42 People were killed and dozens of others went missing as Flash floods hit Indonesia's easternmost Papua province Saturday night, a local disaster agency official said on Sunday.

Torrential rains had triggered the natural disaster in several villages in Jayapura district. A total of 21 People were badly injured while 18 others suffered minor wounds, Cory Simbolon, head of emergency unit of the provincial disaster management agency, told Xinhua.

"Dozens of People are still missing, as the Flash floods hit at about 18:00 p.m. local time," the official said.

Over 3,000 People have been forced to flee home and taken shelters at safer grounds after the Flash floods damaged dozens of houses, buildings, bridges and other infrastructure facilities, the official said.

Risk assessment of the disaster was being carried out by disaster officials, the official added.

Spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said emergency relief efforts have been undertaken. Some of aids have been distributed to the affected People and a joint post command will be set up.

He said the some evacuees took shelters at the headquarters of district office and search and rescue office.

Landslides at the upstream of a river accumulated soils at the river, hampering flows of the water. The Flash floods occurred when the soils collapsed, Sutopo told Xinhua.