Two Killed by Falling Building in Storm-Lashed Bali

March 18, 2012


Denpasar. Two more people were killed in stormy Bali on Saturday night, bringing the death toll to 11 from several districts hit by ongoing heavy rainfall and landslides.

The two victims were identified as I Ketut Nada and I Ketut Sumarna from Sukawati, Gianyar district. District police spokesman Ketut Alit Sudarsana said the two were struck by a collapsing building after performing their prayers in a temple on the site at 11 p.m.

Nada died of her injuries on the spot, Ketut said, while Sumarna died after being taken to the Dharma Yadnya Hospital in Denpasar for treatment.

The storms also caused dozens of trees to fall and knock out electricity in Denpasar and Badung. “There were no casualties,” said Denpasar Disaster Mitigation Agency head Made Sudana Satrigraha. “Some houses suffered minor damage from trees falling.”

The storms also killed two people on Thursday. Ni Wayan Sidemen died after a tree fell on her in Karangasem district and Ni Wayan Puri died in Gianyar when her house collapsed.

Two people who went missing in landslides and flash floods that hit Bangli district on Tuesday night were still not found as of Sunday. Ketut Tapa and Nyoman Gunawan were two of seven people swept by the flooding.

Bangli district military commander Djoni Prasetio said the joint search and rescue team were using tracker dogs and had extended their search area to beyond Belandingan and Pinggan, the two villages hit by the flash floods, but had so far turned up nothing.

The losses incurred from natural disasters over the past week reached Rp 1.9 billion ($209,000), with Tabanan suffering losses of Rp 894 million, Badung Rp 587 million, Klungkung Rp 135 million, Karangasem Rp 278 million and Denpasar Rp 100 million.

“Losses for Bangli, Buleleng and Gianyar have not yet been reported,” said Bali head of Center for Disaster Information I Nyoman Suanjaya.

Bali Public Relations and Protocol Bureau head Ketut Teneng said the agency had prepared a Rp 29.4 billion disaster mitigation budget.

“We have ordered districts to calculate the losses so that we can start rehabilitation efforts immediately,” he said.


(x the JG)