Unidentified victims of deadly flash floods and landslides in Indonesia were buried in a mass grave on Wednesday, with dozens still missing almost two weeks after the disaster.
The official death toll stands at 112, but more than 90 more people are unaccounted for after torrential rains pounded Indonesia's Papua region, triggering landslides and flash floods.
About 20 victims, who have yet to be identified, were placed in numbered coffins and then buried near the hard-hit town of Sentani.
Coffins containing the bodies of flash floods victims are arranged in a grave during a mass burial in Sentani, Papua province, Indonesia. Source: AP
The Disaster Agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said more than 16,000 people had been affected by the flooding
Almost 4000 of them had taken up shelter at about 30 refuge points around Sentani and nearby Jayapura, Papua's capital.
The head of the Red Cross in Jayapura, Derek Windessy, said while the search continued for missing people, the main focus now was to provide relief supplies to the thousands of people staying in evacuation posts.
An injured resident lies on the bed as she is accompanied by a relative, at a field hospital in Sentani, near Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia. Source: EPA
"We are starting with the build of toilets for the people and starting to distribute water," he told Radio New Zealand.
"We will be starting again (to) distribute our Red Cross items such as family kits, kitchenware, and cleaning tools, and baby kits because the items just arrived here from Jakata."
Authorities said DNA samples had been sent to the national police headquarters.
"If later on there's a family member who comes to report a missing relative, we will take their DNA and if it matches, the body (will) be exhumed and given to the relatives," Papua police's medical unit head Ramon Amiman told AFP.
Residents ride through flood water in Sentani, near Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia. Source: AAP
The disaster almost two weeks ago also left nearly 1000 people injured.
The government earlier this month announced a two-week state of emergency after the disaster destroyed homes and other buildings and blocked roads.
In one residential complex alone, some 60 homes were swept away.
"The destruction is enormous," said Giri Wijayantoro, vice regent of Papua's capital Jayapura.
"We're still in the state of emergency so we're focusing on searching for the missing victims."
This aerial photo shows the area affected by flash floods in Sentani, Papua province, Indonesia on March 18, 2019. Source: AP
Flooding is common in Indonesia, especially during the rainy season which runs from October to April.
In January, floods and landslides killed at least 70 people on Sulawesi island, while earlier this month hundreds in West Java province were forced to evacuate when torrential rains triggered severe flooding.
The Southeast Asian archipelago of some 17,000 islands is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth, straddling the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide.
Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common. In December, the western part of Java island was slammed by a deadly volcano-triggered tsunami that killed about 400 people.
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Also last year, the city of Palu in Sulawesi was rocked by a quake-tsunami disaster that killed thousands, while hundreds of others died in a series of quakes that hit the holiday island of Lombok, next to Bali.
