The death toll from floods and landslides that struck the large island of Sumatra in Indonesia has risen to 21, with six missing, a rescue official said on Sunday.
Heavy rains caused floods and landslides in Besisir Selatan district of West Sumatra province, forcing more than 75,000 people to take refuge in temporary shelters.
“So far (Sunday), 21 dead have been found and six others are missing,” Fajr Suma, an official at the West Sumatra Disaster Management Agency, said in a telephone call to Agence France-Presse.
A previous report issued on Saturday evening stated that 18 people were killed and 5 were missing.
Landslides occur regularly in Indonesia during the ongoing rainy season. The problem has been exacerbated in some areas by deforestation.
Fajr added that one of the villages in the Sutera region suffered severe damage, with about 200 families isolated after a landslide followed by a flash flood.
The head of the local search and rescue agency, Abdul Malik, said that the search for the missing people continued on Sunday, while the authorities focused their operations on three areas, explaining in a statement that “about 150 people are participating in the search.”
According to Doni Gosrizal, an official at the local disaster management agency, the waters have begun to recede after the floods, but access to areas affected by the landslide remains difficult.
In West Sumatra, but in another district, Padang Pariaman, heavy rains over the weekend caused rivers to overflow and caused floods and landslides, killing at least three people.
