Survivors pick up the pieces in flood-hit Indonesia

SURVIVORS in Indonesia were piecing back shattered lives yesterday after devastating floods killed more than 1600 people across five countries, with fears of fresh misery as more rain looms.

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Indonesia has borne the brunt of the disaster, with its toll rising to 867 dead, and 521 remaining missing, authorities said. Many are in Aceh province on the island of Sumatra, where more than 800000 people have also been displaced. Sri Lanka has reported 486 deaths, Thailand 276 and Malaysia two.

At least two people were also killed in Vietnam after heavy rains lashed the country and triggered more than a dozen landslides, state media said yesterday.

On Indonesia's Sumatra, many survivors were counting the cost of the deluge that started last week, leading to destructive flash-flooding and landslides. "Our house was covered by soil up to the ceiling," said Rumita Laurasibuea. "Around the house, there were piles of wood." The 42-year-old government contractor, now sheltering in a school, said that recovering from the flood's impact "could take more than a year".

Hendra Vramenia, 37, had fled his village in Kampung Dalam in southeastern Aceh and feared that people in remote areas now risked starvation.

"This is a calamity we must face," he said of the disaster.