Landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island killed 17 people on Friday, most of them worshippers in a mosque, a rescue official said.
Satria Arjuna, chief of the emergency team in the area, said workers were searching for 11 more people missing after the landslides struck two villages in the remote area of western Sumatra.
The official said there had been heavy rain in the mountainous area that had left the ground very unstable.
”I’ve got information from the emergency team that 17 people died … Most of the victims were praying in a mosque. Some houses were also buried,” Arjuna said by telephone, adding some of the missing may be buried in the remains of the mosque.
The nearest town to the landslides is Solok, about 900km north-west of the capital, Jakarta.
The rainy season has just started in parts of Indonesia, making landslides more likely, with the risk increased in many areas by clearing of forests. — Reuters