Lubuk Basung, W Sumatra (ANTARA) - West Sumatra Police's elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) has set up a field kitchen in Sungai Pua village, Agam district, to provide cooked meals to villagers affected severely by cold lava flood from Mount Marapi.
"This field kitchen is one of our endeavors to serve the flood victims," head of logistics at the West Sumatra Police's Brimob Division, Adjunct Commissioner Budi Rahmat, said here on Monday.
The cold lava flood recorded in Agam district on Saturday evening (May 11, 2024) caused serious damage to the homes of several residents in Sungai Pua and several other villages, he informed.
To assist those whose homes were destroyed by the flood in Sungai Pua village, the police set up a field kitchen that can provide 500 cooked meal packages daily. The cooked meal packages are being prioritized for affected villagers, he informed, adding that Brimob is also providing a mobile water treatment facility to supply drinkable water to those in need.
According to a villager named Zahira, the presence of the Brimob field kitchen has proved helpful for her and many other affected residents. Mount Marapi first erupted on December 3, 2023, at about 2:54 p.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB). The eruption reportedly left 75 hikers trapped on the slopes of the volcano.
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The volcano erupted again on January 6, 2024, around 8:45 p.m. local time. On Saturday evening (May 11), cold lava flood from Mount Marapi and landslides were recorded in several parts of Agam and Tanah Datar districts, as well as Padang Panjang city, killing at least 41 people.
The catastrophe caused serious damage to many local residents' homes, businesses, and public facilities in the affected areas. The disaster also severely damaged several road sections, including the one near Anai Valley's waterfall, which resulted in the disruption of mobility of people and goods between Padang and Bukittinggi.