December 10, 2025 | 11:36 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has reported a rise in fatalities from the severe floods and landslides that have devastated Sumatra over the past week.
As of Wednesday, December 10, 2025, BNPB’s emergency response dashboard recorded 969 deaths in the three worst-affected provinces: 391 in Aceh, 340 in North Sumatra, and 238 in West Sumatra. The cumulative figure increased slightly from the 964 fatalities reported on Tuesday.
The number of missing persons has also decreased, dropping from 264 to 262 individuals compared with the previous day.
North Sumatra accounts for the highest number of missing residents at 138 people, followed by 93 in West Sumatra and 31 in Aceh. BNPB said more than 5,000 people have sustained injuries in the disaster.
Evacuation numbers are declining as conditions gradually improve in several regions. On Monday, December 8, BNPB recorded 1,057,482 displaced residents across the three provinces. By Tuesday, the figure had fallen to 894,101 individuals.
BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari said the most significant decrease was recorded in North Aceh Regency, where evacuees dropped from 316,634 people on Sunday to 299,506 the following day, and to 166,920 individuals on Tuesday.
In a separate update, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) reported a slightly higher death toll than BNPB. As of Monday, December 8, Basarnas confirmed 974 fatalities linked to the disaster.
Officials noted that differences in data may arise from varying identification methods and the discovery of body fragments during searches.
Basarnas Chief Air Marshal Mohammad Syafii said field conditions have become increasingly challenging as the search enters its second week. Many recovered bodies are no longer easily identifiable due to advanced decomposition after more than ten days.
“The condition of the victims has significantly changed, making identification difficult,” Syafii said during a parliamentary hearing with Commission V of the House of Representatives on Monday.
Emergency teams continue search-and-rescue operations while relief efforts remain underway to assist survivors in the affected areas.
Sultan Abdurrahman contributed to the writing of this article.
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