Illegal Logging Blamed As 170 Die In Indonesian Flash Flood

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BAHOROK, Indonesia (AFP) - About 170 people were feared dead as hopes faded of finding alive dozens still missing after a flash flood linked to illegal logging smashed through an Indonesian resort town.
Rescuers said 86 bodies had been recovered but 80-100 others were unlikely to be found after they were swept away when wall of water struck this North Sumatra town late Sunday.

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Along with the surging floodwaters came hundreds of logs, felled on the slopes of nearby Gunung (Mount) Leuser national park and washed down the river. They smashed into scores of homes, many of them tin-roofed bamboo structures, as well as resort cottages on the riverbank. Pasaribu said about 450 homes or other structures were destroyed along with 35 resort cottages, two mosques and eight bridges.

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Enda Hartanta Bangun, an engineer with a state plantation company, said "the water buffer has been severely depleted due to illegal logging in Gunung Leuser." Severe flooding and landslides, often due to deforestation or development of water catchment areas, are common during Indonesia's rainy season.

Residents said Bahorok was hit by floods every year but had never experienced anything like this. Headscarved women in the town sobbed quietly as they waited for news of loved ones."

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