Mud engulfs houses of Lapindo victims

The Jakarta Post, Sidoarjo, Saturday December 27 2014


Dozens of houses of the victims of the Lapindo mudflow in Gempolsari subdistrict, Tanggulangin district, Sidoarjo, East Java, have been inundated with mud following damage to the location’s mud-reservoir embankment at point 73 and surroundings areas in last few days.

Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS) spokesperson Dwinanto P said that the damaged embankment was located not far from people’s homes, accounting for why the mud engulfed their houses.

“The supporting embankment was damaged because of heavy downpours over the region,” Dwinanto said, adding that his agency was trying to improve the embankment to prevent more mud from overflowing.

A number of pieces of heavy equipment belonging to the agency, he said, had been deployed on the eastern side of the overflowing mud to redirect it to the Ketapang River, which is located to the north of the damaged embankment.



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