Landslides and flash floods on Indonesia’s Java island leave 16 dead and 9 missing

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers recovered at least 16 bodies that were swept away in flash floods or buried under tons of mud and rocks that hit hilly villages on the country’s main island of Java, officials said Tuesday. Nine people were missing.

Torrential rains on Monday caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through nine villages in Pekalongan regency of Central Java province, as mud, rocks and trees tumbled down mountainside hamlets, said Bergas Catursasi, who heads the local Disaster Management Agency.

He said rescue workers by Tuesday pulled out at least 16 bodies in the worst-hit village of Petungkriyono, and rescuers are searching for nine villagers who are reportedly still missing. Ten injured people managed to escape and rushed to nearby hospitals, Catursari said.

Seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile floodplains.