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View all search resultsFifteen people, mostly children, missing after floods in Papua
Thirteen of the victims were children aged between eight and 17 years old, Adj. Sr. Comr. Alfredo Agustinus Rumbiak, the police chief of the remote Nduga region, told Reuters.
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This handout photo taken and released on May 19, 2025 by the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) shows rescuers recovering bodies after hours of heavy rain triggered flooding and a landslide near a gold mine in a remote area near Manokwari, West Papua. (AFP/Basarnas)
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t least 15 people, mostly children, are missing and are likely to be dead after floods and landslides hit Papua after torrential rain, a local official said on Monday.
Thirteen of the victims were children aged between eight and 17 years old, Adj. Sr. Comr. Alfredo Agustinus Rumbiak, the police chief of the remote Nduga region, told Reuters.
The children were heading home after playing volleyball and had attempted to cross a river when the floods happened, he said.
They initially took refuge on some big rocks, but the current was too strong and they were swept away. Also, some rocks fell and buried them, Alfredo said.
Residents, police and military personnel, as well as the local disaster mitigation agency are continuing to search for the victims, Alfredo said, but their efforts are being hampered by the difficult, mountainous terrain.
Authorities need a helicopter to get to the location, or face an eight-hour trek from the nearest town, he said.
The rescue is also being complicated by the fact the area is categorised as a "red zone" in security terms, he added.
Papuan separatists have fought for independence since Papua came under Indonesian control following Dutch rule in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969.
The police said the location of the landslide was in the same area where a separatist group killed dozens of workers who built a bridge back in 2018.
