Wasior refugees flee disaster area
Wasior, West Papua (ANTARA News) - Hundreds of refugees of Wasior, West Papua, again have fled the disaster area on Sunday.
They fled because they feared a recurrence of the disastrous flash floods that hit their villages more than a week ago, a military official said.
"As many as 400 refugees have registered themselves for going to Manokwari," Captain M. Irawan, duty officer at post command-1, Wasior, said on Sunday. The refugees who have reported their departure for Manokwari had been given letters on their refugee status so that they could get free transportation.
Irawan added that the refugees had boarded MV Labobar, a passenger ship of state-owned shipping company PT Pelni, for an 8-hour trip to Manokwari. Besides using the Pelni ship, there are also others who are going on their own and paid the fare themselves, making the number of the fleeing refugees more than 400 who had registered.
Bad weather and incessant rains fell again since the weekend, making the refugees using makeshift shelters of the local government and military authorities for fear that another disaster might happen, he said.
Relentless rain from Sunday through early Monday, October 3-4, caused the rivers in Wondiwoy mountains to overflow, causinng flash floods, rocks and logs rolling down the hills and struck Wasior, a town in Wondama bay.
At least 150 people were killed and hundreds still missing. The floods also injured 853 people and forced 4,625 others to move to safer places.
Data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency show that at least 4,711 people victims of the flash floods are currently being accommodated in Manokwari, some 240kms from Wasior. (*)
They fled because they feared a recurrence of the disastrous flash floods that hit their villages more than a week ago, a military official said.
"As many as 400 refugees have registered themselves for going to Manokwari," Captain M. Irawan, duty officer at post command-1, Wasior, said on Sunday. The refugees who have reported their departure for Manokwari had been given letters on their refugee status so that they could get free transportation.
Irawan added that the refugees had boarded MV Labobar, a passenger ship of state-owned shipping company PT Pelni, for an 8-hour trip to Manokwari. Besides using the Pelni ship, there are also others who are going on their own and paid the fare themselves, making the number of the fleeing refugees more than 400 who had registered.
Bad weather and incessant rains fell again since the weekend, making the refugees using makeshift shelters of the local government and military authorities for fear that another disaster might happen, he said.
Relentless rain from Sunday through early Monday, October 3-4, caused the rivers in Wondiwoy mountains to overflow, causinng flash floods, rocks and logs rolling down the hills and struck Wasior, a town in Wondama bay.
At least 150 people were killed and hundreds still missing. The floods also injured 853 people and forced 4,625 others to move to safer places.
Data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency show that at least 4,711 people victims of the flash floods are currently being accommodated in Manokwari, some 240kms from Wasior. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2010
Source: http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/1287331745/wasior-refugees-flee-disaster-area
No comments:
Post a Comment