Indonesia crews resume dam rescue

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7970438.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Bodies are still being recovered more than two days after a dam burst near the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, killing at least 93 people.

Disaster officials said about 700 rescuers and volunteers continued to sift through debris trying to find dozens of people still unaccounted for.

The Situ Gintung dam gave way early on Friday after hours of rain, deluging about 400 homes in Tangerang district.

Residents likened the onrush of water to the impact of a tsunami.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the scene on Friday and promised to help families reconstruct their homes.

<a class="bodl" href="#map"> See map of affected area </a>

Torrents of water mixed with boulders and debris crashed through a 70m (230ft) gash in the dam, sweeping away buildings in the Cirendeu suburb of the town of Ciputat.

<a class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/7967237.stm"> In pictures: Dam burst </a> <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7967541.stm"> Dam burst felt 'like tsunami hit' </a>

The deluge destroyed hastily erected flimsy wooden houses as well as more solid concrete buildings.

On Sunday, search and rescue co-ordinator Suyatno told AFP that 93 bodies had been recovered - up from 77 known fatalities on Saturday.

He said that about 700 rescue workers, police and military personnel joined forces Sunday in a third day searching for 102 people still listed as missing.

"We will extend today the location of the search for the missing people," he said.

Maintenance questions

The Situ Gintung dam, which stood 16m high and held back a lake of two million cubic metres of water, was built out of dirt by Dutch colonialists in 1933.

Experts told the BBC that little maintenance had been carried out on the dam since then, and warned that many dams in Indonesia are in a similar state.

The Jakarta Globe newspaper reported that Cirendeu residents had spotted cracks in the dam a year ago.

They were so fearful of a flood that they had even practised evacuation drills, the newspaper reported.

But following hours of heavy rain during Thursday evening, the dam burst at 0200 (1900 GMT Thursday) when most people were asleep.

The BBC's Katherine Demopoulos in Jakarta says the area has an ageing, poorly maintained drainage system which struggles to cope with heavy rainfall.

<a class="bodl" href="#top"> Back to story </a>