At Least 804 Dead in Indonesia Floods. Aid is Slow to Arrive

The death toll from the floods that hit the large island of Sumatra in Indonesia has surpassed 800, announced the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) on Wednesday. Authorities had previously reported 631 deaths. According to BNPB, the latest number is 804 dead; the number of missing persons has also increased to over 650 – 24 hours ago, there were 472 people whose whereabouts were unknown – with hundreds of thousands of residents displaced from their homes. Despite the high number of deaths, thousands of injuries, and massive destruction in Sumatra, the Indonesian government is resisting growing pressure to declare a state of emergency after the floods.