A landslide site in Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra province, Indonesia (Photo: AFP) Hanoi (VNA) – At least 22 people have died andmany are missing in flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain inwestern Indonesia, the country’s national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB)said on October 13.
Heavy downpours since October 10 have led toflooding and landslides that hit 24 villages in Mandailing Natal, NorthSumatra province.
Search and rescue efforts are underway but havebeen hampered by the landslides in several areas.
BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said asidefrom human losses, floods and landslides have also damaged many houses andinfrastructure and washed away a vast area of crops.
Indonesia has suffered continuous disastersrecently.
The devastating earthquakes in Central Sulawesiprovince on September 28 killed at least 2,073 and injured 10,679 others whileanother 671 remain unaccounted for.
Indonesia is frequently struck by earthquakes,volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the "Ring ofFire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
In February this year, 12 people died when anavalanche of mud and rock cascaded down a steep slope in central Java,Indonesia's main island. In June 2016, nearly 50 people died when heavydownpours sent torrents of water, mud and rock into villages also inCentral Java province.
In 2004, a substantial earthquake off thenorthern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the IndianOcean, killing 220,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 168,000 inIndonesia.–VNA
VNA
