Five dead, three missing after Jakarta floods

Five people were killed, three more are missing and thousands are unable to return to their waterlogged homes after floods submerged parts of Indonesia's capital, officials said Wednesday.

The muddy deluge inundated the presidential palace, a major hospital and entire neighbourhoods across Jakarta on Tuesday, only weeks after 70 residents of the low-lying megacity died in some of the deadliest flooding in memory.

Two teenagers were among the five people drowned or electrocuted in hard-hit parts of the city, Indonesia's national disaster agency said.

"The joint rescue team is still searching" for three other possible victims, agency spokesman Agus Wibowo told AFP, adding that nearly 20,000 people were staying in emergency shelters.

Floodwaters reached more than a metre (three feet) in some parts of the capital but were receding by Wednesday, a day after rescuers combed drenched districts in pontoon boats to locate vulnerable residents.

Parts of the city had ground to a halt as thousands of buildings were swamped, sparking power outages and disrupting commuter trains.

Jakarta, a sprawling city beleaguered by massive traffic jams and poor infrastructure, is prone to flooding during the annual wet season.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo last year unveiled plans to relocate the capital to an as yet unbuilt city on Borneo island.

Strong quake hits eastern Indonesia
Jakarta (AFP) Feb 26, 2020 - A strong 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit a remote part of eastern Indonesia Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning.

The undersea quake struck at a depth of some 61 kilometres (38 miles), about 280 kilometres southwest of the city of Tual in the archipelago's Maluku province.

The Southeast Asian country is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

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Jakarta flood lawsuit sidelined by more floods
Jakarta (AFP) Feb 25, 2020
A multi-million-dollar lawsuit filed against Jakarta's governor over deadly New Year flooding was sidelined Tuesday due to more floods. Lawyers on their way to court were stymied as key roads were swamped following torrential rain that inundated neighborhoods in Indonesia's capital and saw disaster officials comb districts in pontoon boats in search of at-risk residents. "I spent hours trying to reach the court but all the roads were inundated," said lawyer Azas Tigor Nainggolan. "The hearing ha ... read more