Wikinews

Dam in Indonesia bursts, dozens killed

This is the stable version, checked on 18 December 2024. Template changes await review.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Related articles
Collaborate!

On Friday, a dam burst in a southwestern suburb of Jakarta, Indonesia, killing at least 52 people and displacing a further 1,490. Officials, however, warn that the death toll will likely increase.

The cause of the accident appears to be due to heavy rains that night, which overfilled the Situ Gintung lake behind the broken dam. "The dam was an old dam, 16 metres deep. Last night, because of heavy rain, the dam could not hold back the water so it broke," said the governor of the Banten province, Ratu Atut Chosiyah.

Jakarta is on the island of Java.
(Image missing from Commons: image; log)

The breach occurred at approximately 02:00 local time (UTC+7), when many people were in bed, asleep. "People were still sleeping and couldn't do anything. Many people are still trapped and the rescue is ongoing," a local official said to Agence France-Presse.

Rescue efforts were hampered due to a deluge of mud and debris from the dam. "We're still trying to get into the houses, but the problem is, mud is getting in our way," social affairs spokesman Mardjito said.

The President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, offered his condolences to the victims of the disaster. "On behalf of the government, I express my condolences to the families of the dead victims and may their souls be accepted by God almighty," he said.

Indonesia's Vice President Yusuf Kalla has visited the scene of the incident. "We will provide emergency help to the victims. For those whose homes were destroyed, the government will help with the repairs," he told Metro TV.

A major concern following this flood is the risk of water-borne diseases such as malaria. These problems are made worse by the local climate being very hot and humid.

The Situ Gintung dam was built early last century, during the Dutch colonial rule. It was holding back a lake of about two million cubic metres (70 million cubic feet) of water.


Sources

 
Wikipedia
Wikipedia has more about this subject:
 

Share this:           


 

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

  This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License


Retrieved from "https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Dam_in_Indonesia_bursts,_dozens_killed&oldid=4816529"