Rescuers have found 24 bodies and 10 people are still missing after floods and landslides hit a small island off Indonesia’s Sulawesi, a report said on Sunday.
The floods hit Tahuna, district capital of the Sangihe islands, about 250km north of the North Sulawesi provincial capital, Manado, on Friday.
The district’s deputy head, Yabhes Gaghana, told the Detikcom online news service that by Sunday morning 24 bodies had been found and the search was continuing for another 10 people believed still to be missing.
Gaghana said the search was focusing on two towns hit by landslides, Soa Taloara and Dumuhung.
More than 1 300 people fled their homes and took refuge from the floods in schools and government buildings, the ElShinta radio reported, quoting local officials.
Police have said the floods and landslides took place during the rainy season.
Telephone communications to the island were virtually cut off, a telephone operator in Jakarta said.
Last month, dozens of people were killed in landslides and flash floods in the north of Sumatra island, which forced about 400 000 people to flee their homes.
In June last year, floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains killed more than 200 people in South Sulawesi province. — Sapa-AFP