Natural Disasters Claim 245 Lives: BNPB

Jakarta (Antara) - The National Disasters Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has reported that 245 people were killed in natural disasters since early this year. The BNPB data shows that about 80 percent of the disasters were hydro-meteorological disasters, such as floods, landslides, drought, land and forest fires and tsunami. "From January until now, there have been 372 disasters that claimed the lives of 245 victims. About 1,523 people suffered from injuries, while another 1,044,990 were evacuated," head of the BNPB, Syamusl Maarif, said at a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission VIII on social affairs, here on Tuesday. Since early this year, the agency also reported, 3,000 houses were heavily damaged and 603 and 5,637 were, respectively, moderately and lightly damaged. The number of houses that was submerged under water reached 271,109. In the meantime, a total of 54 schools, 51 houses of worship and 17 medical care centers were also damaged. Regarding damaged agricultural areas, the agency noted that it has increased to 54,972 hectares. "There will be an upward trend in the future because the people's demands are also increasing. So the population also poses a special problem," the BNPB chief stated. (*)