ALBAWABA - After flash floods and landslides struck many areas in North Sumatra province, killing at least 27, search and rescue looking for passengers trapped in a minibus covered in mud, an official said Thursday.
According to Indonesia's disaster office, four distinct districts have experienced landslides and flash floods as a result of the province's torrential rains since last week.
Hadi Wahyudi, a spokesman for the North Sumatra police, told Reuters that a landslide in a village in Deli Serdang on Wednesday killed seven people and injured twenty.
He said he could not provide an estimate of the number of individuals affected, but rescuers were searching for missing persons, including those stuck in a minibus and other vehicles on a mountainous interprovince road damaged by a landslide.
Rice fields, mosques, and homes were all damaged by the landslides and flash floods. In Medan, one of the main affected cities, heavy rains also caused flooding, which led to some polling places to postpone voting in a regional election.
According to the country's weather bureau, Indonesia is likely to see extreme weather by the end of 2024 as the La Nina phenomena raises rainfall over the tropical island.
