Death toll from Indonesia floods and landslides passes 700

JAKARTA: The number of people killed by floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island rose to 708 on Tuesday, the disaster agency said, as authorities rushed to repair infrastructure and deliver aid to cut-off areas.

The agency in a press conference late on Tuesday said 708 people had been killed since last week, a figure lower than the 753 reported on its website earlier in the day. It did not give a reason for the discrepancy.

Close to 900 people have been killed in floods and landslides that have wreaked havoc in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, which follow months of adverse and deadly weather in Southeast Asia, including successive typhoons that struck the Philippines and Vietnam and added to frequent and prolonged flooding elsewhere.

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Environmental experts and local officials have said deforestation on Sumatra has led to a disproportionately deadly toll.

The Indonesian disaster agency said teams were prioritising distributing aid via land, sea and air, clearing blocked roads and repairing damaged infrastructure.

“We do hope that we can speed up the logistics distribution,” spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.