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View all search resultsFamilies ask BNPB to continue search for missing victims in N. Sumatra, W. Sumatra
Joint SAR teams remain on standby at disaster sites and will be deployed if new information emerges on the whereabouts of missing persons.
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Students attend a flag-raising ceremony on Jan. 5, 2026, the first day of school at elementary school SD 05 Batang Anai in Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra. (Antara/Iggoy el Fitra)
F
amilies of still-missing victims have asked that search efforts to find their loved ones be continued after the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) decided to stop the search for missing persons from the flash floods and landslides in North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
One of the family members, Tiosmina Hutagalung, said she already had accepted the fact that her husband had died. She, however, still hoped to find the body of her husband, Tindang Tambunan.
She also asked the search and rescue (SAR) team to keep looking for her missing husband, despite BNPB halting the search for victims.
“If I may, please continue the search. If he is dead already, I can accept it, but I hope to find his body,” Tiosmina said in one of the evacuation centers in Tukka district, Central Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra, on Saturday.
Commenting on the requests, North Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head of emergency response Sri Wahyuni Pancasilawati said search efforts for missing victims had ended after the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) officially stopped the operation, as the disaster status had shifted to the emergency transition phase.
She said families had accepted that their relatives were missing. However, joint SAR teams remained on standby at disaster sites.
“The SAR team is just on standby, no more activities,” she told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
