Malaysian medical students in flooded Jakarta evacuated

JAKARTA: At least ten Malaysian medical students were evacuated from their inundated residences amidst catastrophic flooding in the Indonesian capital, yesterday.

The students, who were staying in Tanjung Duren, Grogol and Jakarta Barat, were evacuated to the Malaysia Hall here.

“(They) are all medical students at the Krida Wacana Christian University (Ukrida or Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana).

“They are now being housed at the Malaysia Hall until conditions allow them to return,” said Education Malaysia in Indonesia (EMI) director Associate Prof Dr Mior Harris Mior Harun.

He said that EMI is currently monitoring the situation to determine if there are other Malaysian students affected by the disaster.

Ukrida student Suhaima Izzatiey Amirah Suhaimi, 25, said that she had been living in Jakarta for three years, and had never before been affected by flooding.

“It was raining heavily on New Year’s Eve and continued until the following morning.

“The water in our housing area rose to knee level (0.4 metres) and we contacted the Malaysian Embassy, which told us to evacuate to the Malaysia Hall amid concerns the floods would worsen,” she added.

Several areas of Jakarta and the nearby cities of Bekasi, Tangerang, Bogor and Depok, were hit by massive floods on Thursday following heavy rainfall which began in the early morning of Jan 1.

Up to 29 people are believed to have died and tens of thousands have been evacuated to temporary relief centres, the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency said.

Source: NST