Indonesian President Joko Widodo warned on Monday that a new tsunami could hit the country, calling on the local authorities to do everything possible to prevent the emergence of new victims.
BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th December, 2018) Indonesian President Joko Widodo warned on Monday that a new tsunami could hit the country, calling on the local authorities to do everything possible to prevent the emergence of new victims.
On Saturday, a deadly tsunami, triggered by a volcano eruption, hit the coast of Indonesian Sunda Strait, leaving over 280 people killed and more than 1,000 others injured, while over 50 people have gone missing. The tsunami has also destroyed hundreds of homes and public buildings.
"As we have seen, disaster zones are not always the same as forecast [by the Indonesian National board for Disaster Management]. This is why coastal regions that were hit by the tsunami were not ready for it. A new tsunami is probable, and the population and [related] agencies of the coastal regions should be ready for it. We should avoid the emergence of new victims," Widodo said, as quoted by the Detik news website.
Earlier in the day, Widodo already slammed the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management for its inexact forecasts, as a result of which people living in the tsunami-hit areas had not been warned beforehand about the probability of the disaster.
Widodo pledged that in early 2019 all the elements of the early tsunami-warning system would be checked and improved.
