Landslides and flash floods on Indonesia's Sumatra island leave at least 23 dead and dozens missing

MEDAN, Indonesia — Rescuers recovered more bodies in the search for dozens of people buried under landslides or swept away after torrential rains unleashed flash floods and triggered landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, increasing the death toll to 23 and leaving more than two dozen people missing, officials said Wednesday

MEDAN, Indonesia — Rescuers recovered more bodies in the search for dozens of people buried under landslides or swept away after torrential rains unleashed flash floods and triggered landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, increasing the death toll to 23 and leaving more than two dozen people missing, officials said Wednesday.

Rescue teams were struggling to reach affected areas in 11 cities and districts of North Sumatra province after the monsoon rains over the past week caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through hilly villages as mud, rocks and trees tumbled down, leaving destruction in their wake, as mudslides that covered much of the area, blackouts and lack of telecommunications were hampering the search efforts, the National Search and Rescue Agency said in a statement.

Rescue workers by Wednesday had recovered at least eight bodies and three injured people in the worst-hit city of Sibolga and were searching for at least 21 villagers who were reported missing, the statement said. In the neighboring district of Central Tapanuli, landslides hit several homes, killing at least a family of four, and floods submerged nearly 2,000 houses and buildings, forcing about 1,900 displaced people to seek emergency shelters.

Rescuers retrieved seven more bodies in South Tapanuli district, raising the death toll to eight, and workers dug through tons of mud and rubble to search for three people remain buried after floods and landslides also uprooted trees, prompting more than 2,800 residents to flee to temporary shelters and injuring 58 others, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

He said that landslides also hit 50 houses in North Tapanuli district and destroyed at least two main bridges in the region. Floods had cut off a bridge in Mandailing Natal and submerged hundreds of houses in the hilly district and its neighboring Padang Sidempuan city, where a resident was reported missing after being swept away by flooding.