Burst Jakarta Dam Kills 50

'Mini-tsunami' destroys sleeping neighborhood
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 27, 2009 2:57 AM CDT
Burst Jakarta Dam Kills 50
Indonesian men weep as they carry the body of a relative who was killed by flash flood after dam burst in Jakarta today.   (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

At least 50 people were killed today when a Jakarta dam burst, unleashing a 10-foot-high "mini-tsunami" that destroyed a neighborhood, reports the Times of London. The dam burst before dawn as people slept. The toll is expected to soar as more bodies are discovered. One neighbor recalled how she was startled awake seconds before the disaster. "I could hear a banging on the door, and I thought, 'Who's there?' It turned out to be the water," she said.
(More Jakarta stories.)

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