Wood Materials Piles Up, The Chinese Team Is Difficult To Detect Bodies In Aceh

The search for flood and landslide victims in Aceh was seriously hampered by the large number of piles of wood and flood materials in the affected locations. This obstacle has made the Chinese volunteer team carrying special equipment for detecting bodies unable to work optimally since arriving in Aceh Besar.

The five volunteers from China were brought in to speed up the search for victims who are thought to be still buried by flood materials. However, the terrain filled with wood, buildings, and concentrated mud made detection devices unable to be used effectively.

The Governor of Aceh, Muzakir Manaf or Mualem, confirmed that the field conditions greatly disturbed the detection process. According to him, piles of wood are the biggest obstacle that makes it difficult for volunteers to penetrate the search location.

"Their work results have not been maximized, the terrain is still flooded with wood. This makes the work hampered. They are overwhelmed to get a corpse," said Mualem, Thursday, December 11.

Although they have not been able to fully operate in Aceh Besar, the Chinese volunteer previously conducted a search in North Aceh. In that region, the terrain is more likely so that several bodies have been detected.

"Tomorrow they will move to East Aceh or Aceh Tamiang to find the bodies," said Mualem.

The Aceh government said that location displacements were carried out to maximize detection equipment that was sensitive to physical barriers such as wood, metal, and debris. Therefore, massive cleaning of materials is needed before the device can work.

Until now, the joint SAR team and local volunteers have continued to try to get rid of the wood that has accumulated at the locations of floods and landslides. The Aceh government assesses that additional heavy equipment is needed so that the search process can be accelerated and international volunteers can work more effectively.