Over 20,000 escape floods in eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 20,000 residence in Samarinda city of East Kalimantan province have fled their homes and took shelters at makeshift tents and relative houses after floods hit their area, National Disaster Management Agency said here Monday, Kazinform refers to Xinhuanet.

Consecutive days of heavy rain was blamed for the natural disaster since Sunday, spokesman of the agency Priyadi Kardono said. "The waters have submerged 5,563 houses and predicted more than 20,000 people have escaped the floods," he told Xinhua, Kazinform cites Xinhuanet. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.