Floods And Landslides In Indonesia Kill 19 People

MEP: Torrential rains triggered floods and landslides on the Indonesian island of Java, killing at least 19 villagers, an official said Wednesday.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Mitigation Agency, said the death toll could rise as several people were still missing in West Java’s Garut and Sumedang districts.

The worst hit was Garut district, where 16 people were found dead and eight others are still missing after two rivers overflowed Tuesday night.

A list from the agency shows the dead in Garut include an 8-month-old baby, five other children and seven women.

Each year, torrential rains during the monsoon seasons, first from January to March and then from October to December, frequently result in widespread flooding across much of Indonesia.

A total of more than 30 villagers were injured in both districts, Nugroho said.