On Sumatra island in Indonesia, landslides and flash floods caused 19 deaths and seven missing people

On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, torrential rains caused landslides and flash floods that resulted in at least 19 fatalities and seven unaccounted for deaths, authorities said on Sunday.

According to Doni Yusrizal, the chairman of the regional disaster management organization, tons of mud, boulders, and uprooted trees slid down a mountain late on Friday, reaching a river that broke its banks and tore through hillside settlements in the Pesisir Selatan district of West Sumatra province.

By Saturday, Yusrizal added, rescuers had retrieved three more deaths from two nearby villages and seven bodies from the hardest-hit community, Koto XI Tarusan.

There are now 19 fatalities, according to the National Disaster Management Agency, which reported on Sunday. Six of the remains were found by rescuers in Pesisir Selatan, while three more were found in the nearby district of Padang Pariaman.

According to a statement from the agency, the flash flood caused injuries to at least two villages, and rescuers are allegedly still looking for seven persons who went missing.

In nine districts and towns in the province of West Sumatra, 20,000 dwellings were flooded up to the ceiling, and more than 80,000 people were said to have evacuated to makeshift government shelters after the flood and landslide buried 14 buildings.

“Power outages and blocked roads covered in thick mud and debris hampered relief efforts for the dead and missing,” Yusrizal said.

Millions of people in Indonesia live in hilly regions or close to floodplains, and heavy rains often trigger landslides and flash floods there.