JAKARTA, March 9, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - At least 10 people were killed and 10

others were missing after flash floods and a landslide on the Indonesian
island of Sumatra, a local official said Saturday.

Torrential rains triggered the floods and landslide that hit Pesisir Selatan
regency in West Sumatra province, forcing around 46,000 people to evacuate to
temporary shelters.

"Ten people were found dead. Two victims were found in Langgai village,
Sutera subdistrict, seven victims were found and identified in Koto XI
Tarusan subdistrict and one other victim was found in the Lengayang
subdistrict," Pesisir Selatan disaster mitigation agency acting head Doni
Yusrizal said in a statement.

Doni added that bad weather had hampered efforts to search for 10 missing
people.

"The weather as of this morning is still rainy, and then there are some
access (points) that were cut off so it is difficult to go through," said
Doni, adding they were using boats to reach people cut off by the floods.

At least 14 houses were buried in the landslide, more than 20,000 houses were
flooded and eight bridges had collapsed, according to the statement.

In Padang Pariaman regency, also in West Sumatra, heavy downpours between
Thursday and Friday caused rivers to overflow and triggered floods and a
landslide, killing at least three people, according to a statement from the
local disaster mitigation agency.

Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season and the problem has
been aggravated in some places by deforestation, with prolonged torrential
rain causing flooding in some areas of the archipelago nation.

A landslide and floods swept away dozens of houses and destroyed a hotel near
Lake Toba on Sumatra in December, killing at least two people.