BNPB Extends Search For 4 Flood And Landslides On The South Coast

The SOUTH COASTAL - National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has extended the search for flood and landslide victims in Pesisir Selatan Regency, West Sumatra (West Sumatra) until uncertain times at the request of the family.

"The request of the victim's family has also been agreed upon by Basarnas," said Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center Abdul Muhari as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 20.

According to him, there were as many as four residents of the Pesisir Selatan who were missing after being affected by floods and landslides, so far they have not been found.

The search period for victims has been extended twice and should have ended on Thursday (21/2) following the emergency response status set by the Pesisir Selatan Regency Government.

However, due to humanitarian reasons and considering requests from the family, the search for the four victims will still be continued by the Padang Basarnas team, including the Pesisir Selatan BPBD with the approval of the Regent.

Different from before, according to him, the area of the search range is more narrowed, the joint team will follow around the location believed to be the last place the victim was before being hit by a disaster; covering the Langai, Tarusan and Batang Bayang areas.

He emphasized that the search process would still be carried out professionally and optimally relying on existing information with the hope that victims could be found.

The opportunity to get certainty over the existence of the victims is quite large, following the condition of the field which is already clean from the remaining materials of floods and landslides.

But apart from that, the family will also be involved in the implementation of this search so that they can really be sure how the results will come.

It is known that the South Coast is one of 12 regions in West Sumatra that experienced the impact of floods and landslides which were quite severe due to extreme weather since February - early March.

Based on data from the BNPB Pusdalops, it is known that a total of 25 residents of the South Coast were found dead and hundreds of people were injured.

In addition, there were 68,000 families or 223,000 people who fled to the homes of relatives or mosques, school buildings, and safer government offices.

The disaster also damaged infrastructure in the form of 29,000 houses, school buildings, village government offices, 11 bridge units and connecting roads (West Sumatra-Bengkulu Street), 6 thousand hectares of agricultural land failed to harvest up to 5 thousand livestock died.