JAKARTA, May 22 – Rescuers discovered on Thursday five more bodies of flash floods victims in Indonesia’s West Papua province, bringing the total death toll to 15, with five others still missing, an official said.

An additional piece of heavy machinery was deployed to the scene to assist search and rescue operations in Gunung Arfak Regency, increasing the total to two units, according to Agus Bashori, spokesperson for Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Office.

Heavy rains triggered flash floods and landslides in Gunung Arfak Regency on May 15, but extremely poor communication access delayed the dissemination of information to rescuers, said Yefri Sabaruddin, head of the provincial Search and Rescue Office.

XINHUA