Landslides and flash floods on Indonesia’s Java island leave 17 dead and 8 missing

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers recovered the bodies of at least 17 people who were swept away in flash floods or buried under tons of mud and rocks that hit hilly villages on the country’s main island of Java, officials said Tuesday. Eight people were missing.

Torrential rains on Monday caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through nine villages in Pekalongan regency of Central Java province, as mud, rocks and trees tumbled down on mountainside hamlets, said Bergas Catursasi, who heads the local Disaster Management Agency.

He said rescue workers by Tuesday had recovered at least 17 bodies in the worst-hit village of Petungkriyono, and were searching for eight villagers who were reported missing. Eleven injured people managed to escape and were rushed to nearby hospitals, Catursari said.

Television reports showed police, soldiers and rescue workers using excavators, farm equipment and their bare hands to search through the rubble in devastated villages. Others carried victims on bamboo stretchers or in body bags to ambulances or trucks.

“Bad weather, mudslides and rugged terrain hampered the rescue operation,” Catursari said, adding that people who were fishing in the river or taking shelter from the rain were swept away by the floods.

The search was suspended Tuesday afternoon due to heavy rain and thick fog and will be resumed early Wednesday, said Budiono, head of the provincial Search and Rescue Office.

National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said flash floods swept away villagers and vehicles passing through devastated villages and triggered a landslide that buried two houses. The floods also destroyed two main bridges connecting villages in Pekalongan district.

On Monday, a landslide hit five houses in Denpasar on the tourist island of Bali, killing four people and leaving one missing, Muhari said. The landslide also injured three people. Floods were also reported in many other provinces.

Heavy 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 floodplains.

Last month, a landslide, flash floods and strong winds hit Sukabumi district of West Java province, killing 12 people. In November, a landslide and flash floods triggered by heavy downpours hit North Sumatra province, leaving 20 dead and two missing. A landslide in the region also hit a tourist bus, killing nine people.