Cyclone leaves 41 dead, thousands evacuated in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Landslides and floods triggered by cyclone in Indian Ocean last week have left 41 people dead, 13 wounded, and thousands more displaced in Java island of Indonesia, an official of disaster agency said Tuesday.

That compares with the agency's previous report on Saturday that 20 people died and five other went missing.

The cyclone with 65 km per hour in speed, centering at 32 km in south and southeast of East Java province, triggered landslides, floods and whirl winds in 28 districts in the provinces of East Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta and Bali, it said.

The natural disaster has also forced 28,190 people to flee home and take shelters in safer grounds as it has damaged 4,888 houses, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency.

A total of 36 bridges, 21 units of education facilities, two health facilities and four units of religious facilities were destroyed, Sutopo revealed.

Emergency status has been declared up to Dec. 11 and it may be extended, he added.

Emergency relief aids including medicine, foods, baby foods and others have been channeled into the affected persons, said Sutopo. Enditem