East Nusa Tenggara. The joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team has officially halted efforts to search for victims still missing after the flash flood in Sawu Village, Mauponggo District, Nagekeo Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

Head of the Maumere Basarnas Office, Fathur Rahman, said that during the search process, the team managed to find five victims who had died.

"We found one victim in a deceased condition. With this, the death toll has risen to five people, while three remain missing as the search entered its seventh day," he said on Monday, as quoted by Antara.

The decision to end the search was the result of an evaluation meeting involving Maumere Basarnas, TNI-Police units, local government, and the victims’ families at the disaster site.

It is known that the flash flood, which struck on Monday, September 8, left four people reported missing.

Referring to Law Number 29 of 2014 on Search and Rescue, SAR operations are carried out for a maximum of seven days. If victims are not found within that timeframe, the operation is officially declared complete.

"Nevertheless, we at Basarnas will continue to monitor the situation. If there are any signs of victims’ whereabouts, search efforts will be resumed," Fathur explained.

He added that subsequent search efforts would be carried out independently by TNI-Police personnel and the local government.

Earlier, the joint SAR team discovered a 14-month-old toddler named Achiles Agustinus Busa Jago in a deceased condition on September 11, the third day of the search.

Achiles, a resident of Sawu Village, was then evacuated to the joint SAR post before being handed over to his family. With this discovery, the death toll from the flash flood in Nagekeo has now reached five people.

Previously, the flash flood that hit Sawu Village, Mauponggo District, Nagekeo Regency on September 8 claimed several lives and paralyzed transportation routes. As a result, 18 villages in Mauponggo District were isolated due to blocked roads. Electricity and communication networks were also cut off.

Add as a preferred source on Google +