Heavy Rains in Indonesia Leave 8 Japanese Stranded

Jakarta, Nov. 30 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese Embassy in Indonesia said Sunday that eight Japanese nationals have been stranded in the province of Aceh on the northern end of Indonesia’s Sumatra island due to torrential rains that began on Monday. All of them have taken refuge in hotels and are in contact. None of them are injured. According to Indonesia’s National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure, the death toll from the heavy rains has reached 442. Hundreds remain missing. The agency reported that floods and landslides triggered by the rains have damaged nearly 3,000 houses. Roads and bridges have been severed, forcing nearly 300,000 people to evacuate. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]