Jakarta: Indonesian rescuers have recovered 20 bodies and are looking for two villagers who remain missing after flash floods on Sumatra island caused mud and rocks to tumble down mountainsides, officials said on Tuesday. Torrential rains over the weekend caused rivers to burst their banks in four hilly districts in North Sumatra province, washing away houses and destroying farms.
Four more bodies were recovered Monday evening in Karo Regency, bringing the total there to 10, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement Tuesday.
Flash floods also left four people dead in Deli Serdang district, and rescue workers were still searching for two people who were swept away.
4 members of a family, including two children killed
Earlier, rescuers recovered two bodies in villages in South Tapanuli district, and four members of a family, including two children, in Harang Julu, a mountainside village in Padang Lawas district.
Seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.
Dozens of people were injured by the flash floods, which also destroyed more than 321 acres of agricultural land and plantations.
Flash flood in Indonesia
Flash floods on Sunday left four people dead in Deli Serdang district and rescue workers on Monday were searching for two people who were swept away by flash floods and are still missing. A landslide hit several houses in Harang Julu, a mountainside village in Padang Lawas district, said Mustari, the chief of the local search and rescue agency, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name.
Rescuers late Saturday pulled out the bodies of a four-member family, including two children, and rescued at least three injured people from the devastated village, he said. Television reports showed relatives wailing as they watched rescuers pull mud-caked bodies from a room at a buried house in Harang Julu village.
Seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.
Indonesia climate change
Last December, 12 people were swept away to Lake Toba or buried under tons of mud after heavy rains triggered flash flood and landslide in mountainside villages in North Sumatra province. Only one of them was found dead and 11 others remain unaccounted for.
The 1,145-square-kilometer (440-square-mile) Lake Toba, formed out of an ancient super volcano, is a popular sightseeing destination on the island of Sumatra and an area the government aims to develop as a magnet for international tourists.
(With inputs from agency)
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