Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesian authorised unitshave reported the death toll from the landslides striking Indonesia's westernprovince of Riau Islands increased to 44 on Saturday, as the search for the 11missing people was still going on.
Raja Darmika, head of the operation unit of the disaster management andmitigation agency of Natuna Regency, said of the 44 bodies recovered, 43 have been identified.
Meanwhile, Syariffuddin Muhammad, secretary of Natunadisaster management and mitigation agency, acknowledged that heavy downpourswere blamed for the natural disaster, destroying more than 30 houses, with thenumber of people evacuated reaching 2,234.
The rescue operation has involved heavy machinery, andpersonnel from the local search and rescue office, the local disastermanagement and mitigation agency, as well as military personnel and police, headded./.