At least 27 people died after flash floods and landslides hit several locations in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, an official said on Thursday (28). Rescue teams are searching the region.
Torrential rains in the province since last week have caused flash floods and landslides in four different districts, the weather agency said.
A landslide in a village in Delhi Serdang on Wednesday killed seven and injured 20 people, North Sumatra police spokesman Hadi Wahyudi told Reuters.
Rescuers were searching for missing people, including people trapped in a bus and other vehicles on a road hit by a landslide, he said. Wahyudi added that he could not give an estimate of the number of people affected.
Elsewhere, rescuers found 20 people dead during a search that began over the weekend. Authorities continue to search for two missing people.
“Today, we are focusing our search on finding missing people and clearing roads affected by the landslides,” Hadi said, adding that excavators have been mobilized.
Landslides and flash floods damaged homes, mosques and rice fields.
Heavy rains also caused flooding in the provincial capital of Medan, forcing a delay in voting for a regional election in some polling stations.
Extreme weather is expected at the end of 2024, as the La Niña phenomenon increases rainfall across the tropical archipelago, the country’s meteorological agency warned.
