Landslide and flash floods hit Indonesia's Sumatra island, leaving 16 dead and 6 missing

KARO, Indonesia — 

Rescuers successful Indonesia recovered 16 bodies nether tons of mud and rocks oregon that were swept distant successful flash floods that deed mountainside villages connected Sumatra Island, officials said Monday.

Six radical are inactive missing, officials said.

Mud, rocks and trees tumbled down a upland aft torrential rains implicit the play and rivers burst their banks, tearing done 4 hilly districts successful North Sumatra province, washing distant houses and destroying farms.

Police, soldiers and rescue workers utilized excavators, workplace instrumentality and their bare hands to sift done the rubble looking for the dormant and missing successful Semangat Gunung, a edifice country successful Karo district, said Juspri M. Nadeak, who heads the section catastrophe absorption agency.

Rescuers recovered six bodies aft a landslide deed 2 houses and a cottage precocious Sunday, helium said. Nine injured radical managed to escape, helium said. Rescuers connected Monday were inactive searching for 4 missing people, including 2 children.

Rescuers connected Sunday pulled 2 bodies from a stream aft flash floods swept distant astatine slightest 10 houses and damaged astir 150 houses and buildings successful villages successful South Tapanuli district, said Puput Mashuri, who heads the section catastrophe absorption agency.

Dozens of radical were injured by the flash floods, which besides destroyed much than 130 hectares (321 acres) of cultivation onshore and plantations.

Flash floods connected Sunday near 4 radical dormant successful Deli Serdang territory and rescue workers connected Monday were searching for 2 radical who were swept distant by flash floods and are inactive missing.

A landslide deed respective houses successful Harang Julu, a mountainside colony successful Padang Lawas district, said Mustari, the main of the section hunt and rescue agency, who similar galore Indonesians goes by a azygous name.

Rescuers precocious Saturday pulled retired the bodies of a four-member family, including 2 children, and rescued astatine slightest 3 injured radical from the devastated village, helium said.

Television reports showed relatives wailing arsenic they watched rescuers propulsion mud-caked bodies from a country astatine a buried location successful Harang Julu village.

Seasonal rainfall from astir October to March often causes flooding and landslides successful Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands wherever millions of radical unrecorded successful mountainous areas oregon adjacent fertile flood plains.

Last December, 12 radical were swept distant to Lake Toba oregon buried nether tons of mud aft dense rains triggered a flash flood and landslide successful mountainside villages successful North Sumatra province. One of them was recovered dormant and 11 others stay unaccounted for.

The 1,145-square-kilometer (440-square-mile) Lake Toba, formed retired of an past ace volcano, is simply a fashionable sightseeing destination connected the land of Sumatra and an country the authorities aims to make arsenic a magnet for planetary tourists.