At least 44 dead, I5 missing as flash floods hit Sumatra districts

JAKARTA Flash floods and mudslides in Indonesia's West Sumatra province killed at least 44 people over the weekend, while a search for 15 missing people continued.

- 

Hours of heavy rain caused large volcanic rocks to roll down one of Indonesia's most active volcanos into two districts on Sumatra island on the evening of May 11, while flooding inundated roads, homes and mosques.

"The heavy rain swept materials such as ash and large rocks from the Marapi volcano," said Mr Abdul Malik, chief of the provincial rescue team. He later added in a statement that 44 people had died and 15 remained missing.

"Cold lava flow and flash floods have always been threats. But the problem is, (these always happen) late at night until dawn," he said.

Mr Malik told reporters on May 12 that the bodies retrieved included those of two children a threeyear-old and an eight-year-old.

Mr Ilham Wahab, a West Sumatra disaster mitigation agency official, urged people to seek shelter in relatives' places, which he said are safer than tents in heavy rain.