Jakarta, Mar 17 (UNI) At least 63 people died and dozens others went missing as flash floods hit Indonesia's easternmost Papua province on Saturday night, a local disaster agency official said on Sunday.
The cause of the natural disaster is torrential rains and affected several villages in Jayapura district.
So far, scores of villagers, including a baby, have been rescued, of whom 21 suffered serious injuries, Xinhua quoted Yadi Yanto, spokesman of the provincial search and rescue office as saying.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency, said the number of those injured stood at 59.
All of them have been rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment, the spokesman told Xinhua.
"Dozens of people are still missing, as the flash floods hit at about 1800 hrs 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.
According to the official, risk assessment of the disaster was being carried out by disaster officials.
He said the some evacuees took shelters at the headquarters of district office and search and rescue office.
UNI XC GK KPV 1645