Nine die as bad weather hits South Sulawesi

The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Sat, December 23, 2017

Bad weather has hit Makassar and other cities across South Sulawesi in the past week. Nine people have reportedly died as heavy rains swept through the area in the last two days.

Makassar resident Muhammad Fadli, 7, died of electric shock during flooding on Thursday. Nur Anna, 46, died after a concrete fence at a warehouse, the foundations of which were swept away during heavy rain, collapsed on her.

Daeng Leo, a resident of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) housing complex in Tello Baru, died after he fell and was dragged away by flooding in front of his house on Thursday. His body was found on Friday.

The remaining six people are Jeneponto residents. They died when a vehicle they were traveling in skidded on a wet road in Takalar and crashed into a swamp early on Friday.

It was suspected the driver of the vehicle, which was carrying seven people, drove at a high speed and lost control as it passed along a road that was slippery because of the rain. Three people died at the scene while three others died on their way to the hospital.

Another passenger survived the incident and is being treated at a hospital in Jeneponto.

Following the high-intensity rain, floods inundated several areas across Makassar from Thursday to Friday. Around 3,000 residents have been evacuated as floodwater with a depth of between 60 centimeters to more than 2 meters inundated their houses.


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