The death toll from floods and landslides on the Indonesian island of Sumatra rose to 21, an official said on Sunday, with six people still missing.
Heavy rains on Thursday caused a disaster in Pesisir Selatan regency in West Sumatra province, forcing greater than 75,000 people to evacuate.
“As of Sunday, 21 people were dead and six people were missing,” Fajar Sukma, an official with West Sumatra’s disaster mitigation agency, said by phone.
Fajar said the hillside village in Sutera district was hit hard, with about 200 families in the world isolated after a landslide followed by flash flooding.
An area official earlier said the death toll was 18 and five were missing. The Indonesian rescue agency looked for the missing people, involving 150 rescuers from various disaster organizations.
Tons of mud, rocks and fallen trees rolled down the mountain late Friday, reaching a river that burst its banks and tore through villages in West Sumatra province’s Pesisir Selatan district, said Doni Yusrizal, who heads the local disaster management agency.
By Saturday, rescuers had recovered seven bodies within the worst-hit village of Koto XI Tarusan, and three more in two neighboring villages, Yusrizal said.
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said on Sunday that rescuers had found six bodies in Pesisir Selatan and three more within the neighboring Padang Pariaman district.
It said tens of hundreds of individuals had fled to temporary government shelters after flooding and a landslide buried 14 homes and 20,000 homes were flooded to their roofs in nine districts and cities in West Sumatra province.
“The operation to help victims and missing people was hampered by power outages and blocked roads covered with thick mud and debris,” Doni said.
Evacuees gathered at nearby mosques, BNPB spokesman Abdul Muhari said, but no temporary shelters had been arrange. They received food, water and medicine, and others returned home when the waters receded.
Heavy rains cause frequent landslides and flash floods in Indonesia, where hundreds of thousands of individuals live in mountainous areas or near flood plains.
Indonesia’s rainy season began in January, with meteorological agency BMKG forecasting a peak in the primary quarter, especially on the islands of Java and Sumatra.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
