🔗 Share this article

Rescuers in Indonesia are seeking at least 400 persons who have been unaccounted for, a significant number believed to be buried under mudslides following torrential downpours caused devastating flooding nearly a week ago.

The death toll on the island of Sumatra has risen to more than 440, authorities report.

Relief supplies has been delivered to affected areas by aircraft and by boat, but certain communities have remained without assistance, and there are accounts of individuals stealing provisions to survive.

Some foreign aid has arrived, with Malaysia sending treatment materials to Aceh province, one of the hardest-hit provinces.

An unusually uncommon tropical storm, named Cyclone Senyar, caused disastrous landslides and inundation in Indonesia, with homes swept away and countless of structures submerged.

People are lost in Aceh province, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

"Authorities identified two municipalities that need full attention due to being inaccessible, namely Central Tapanuli and Sibolga city," department leader the director was reported stating. Vessels were scheduled in the city on the start of the week, he added.

In the community of Sungai Nyalo, about 62 miles from Western Sumatra's main city Padang city, rising waters had mostly receded on Sunday, causing houses, vehicles and farmland covered with thick grey mud, sources indicate.

The authorities had not yet begun cleaning streets, inhabitants mentioned, and no relief from outside had been provided.

"The majority of residents decided to remain; they refused to evacuate their properties behind," a local, in his fifties, stated.

Official spokesman Ferry Walintukan said there were information of residents breaking into stores on the island, and law enforcement had been deployed to restore order, sources indicated.

"The thefts happened prior to assistance arrived," Mr Walintukan noted. "Locals had no information that help would come and were concerned they would go hungry."

In separate news, tech billionaire the innovator said he would provide free Starlink services to aid connectivity during the disaster.

Wider Consequences

Officials confirm significant destruction across the region.

• A minimum of 170 individuals lost their lives in floods in the Thai nation
• Several deaths were confirmed in Malaysia
• In the Philippines, tens of thousands of residents have protested against government corruption, after a several inundations which killed more than 200 persons in the past weeks
• And in Sri Lanka, at least 193 people succumbed to floods and landslides as the nation grappled with one of its most devastating climate events in years