JAKARTA (XINHUA) – Floods and landslides have struck Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta and its surrounding areas, leaving two people dead, one missing and 20 others injured, officials said on Tuesday (Sept 22).

A river overflowed its banks due to torrential rains since Monday, and submerged surrounding areas in the capital which has recently been under partial Covid-19 lockdown again, spokesman of National Disaster Management Agency Raditya Jati said.

In West Java province’s Sukabumi district, flash floods killed two people, with one remaining missing, and the search mission is under way, said Mr Ramli Prasetio, press officer of the Jakarta Search and Rescue Office.

“Today (Tuesday), two corpses were retrieved,” Mr Prasetio told Xinhua via phone.

Hundreds of rescuers have been taking part in the search and rescue operation, including soldiers, police and those from the Jakarta search and rescue office, among others, he said.

The weather conditions have been favourable for the operation, according to him.

Many residents have taken shelter at their relatives’ places by their own initiative, he said.

In Jakarta, Mr Prasetio said that the floods did not cause any casualty.

Mr Jati said that the floods in the capital forced 15 people to flee home and take shelter at safer grounds, but in Sukabumi district 210 families took shelter after flash floods and landslides hit the area.

The disaster left 20 people injured and seriously damaged nine houses, 10 bridges in the district, the spokesman told Xinhua in a text message.

A warning has been put in place by the meteorology and geophysics agency over the possibility of extreme weather on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Residents are cautioned to be alert on the possibility of further floods, flash floods and landslides as well as whirlwinds, the agency said.

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