Flooding in Jakarta, that brought the Indonesian capital to a standstill over the past four days, has claimed at least 15 lives, police said on Saturday, with most of the victims having drowned or been electrocuted. Further rainfall is expected over the weekend.
The death toll rose on Saturday afternoon after the last of four people trapped in a parking lot in Jakarta’s business district was found.
About 2, 50, 000 people have been affected by the disaster, according to the emergency management agency BNPB, with 18,000 residents forced to flee their homes.
The agency said 41 square kilometers of land, or approximately 8 percent of Jakarta’s total area, is under water.
Jakarta - 40 per cent of which lies below sea level - is prone to flooding in the wet season, which is made worse by clogged rivers, sewers and storm drains and poor city planning.
Severe flooding in 2007 killed 57 people and forced more than 4, 20, 000 to leave their homes in the capital. Officials put the total damage at nearly 695 million dollars.
