Dozens dead as Indonesia dam bursts
At least 50 people have been killed after a dam burst outside Indonesia's capital city following torrential rain.
A wall of water was sent crashing into a crowded neighbourhood just outside Jakarta, killing at least 50 people and leaving more than a dozen others missing.
Hundreds of homes were submerged in the flood and rescuers, some using rubber rafts to reach victims, predicted the death toll would rise.
The dam - which was built decades ago, when the country was still under Dutch colonial rule - broke at around 2am on Friday, while most people were sleeping, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry Crisis Centre.
A nine-year-old girl was found unconscious on top of one home after waters receded, but she died on the way to the hospital, said rescuer Toni Suhartono. The girl's parents and sister were among the missing, he added.
In some places, water levels were roof high and bodies were seen floating amid chairs, clothing, sandals and other debris.
Telephone lines were toppled and cars swept away, some parked in driveways and ending up in parks or intersections hundreds of feet away.
"A flash flood came suddenly and was horrifying," said local resident Seto Mulyadi.
He said the water smashed all the windows and doors on the ground floor of his house, while he, his wife and four children were sleeping upstairs. "My house is a dreadful mess. Thank God my family is safe," he added.
The 32ft high dam, which was holding back about 70 million cubic feet of water at a lake fed by the Pesanggrahan river, was built up to 100 years, according to city official Dadang Arkuni. Cirendeu is in the industrial area of Tangerang.
