At least 19 dead in floods, landslides on Indonesia’s Java island

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

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

An Indonesian search and rescue team joined by volunteers remove debris from an area hit by a landslide in Sumedang. (AFP)

Nine people are still missing in West Java’s Garut and Sumedang districts, said national disaster management mitigation agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

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

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

Nugroho said about 1,000 villagers were evacuated to army barracks and other temporary shelters.

He said three villagers were killed in Sumedang and one person was still missing after landslides buried two houses and destroyed a mosque. About 100 villagers were evacuated.

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

Rains frequently caused landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, an archipelago where millions of people live in mountainous areas or on flood plains near rivers.