Indonesian rescuers scrambled Friday to find survivors under mud-swamped hillsides after flash floods on Java island killed at least eight people, the disaster agency said.

Torrential rains on Thursday unleashed flash floods in Malang and the highland city of Batu, inundating houses with mud and debris, while a wall of water destroyed local bridges.

Six people were pulled from the detritus alive, while rescuers found a half dozen bodies in Batu and two more victims in Malang.

On Friday, teams raced to find several more people unaccounted for in Batu, according to Indonesia's national disaster mitigation agency, as the dead were placed in body bags.

"Until now, we are still trying to find three people still missing," the agency's chairman Abdul Muhari said in a statement.

Fatal landslides and flash floods are common across the Southeast Asian archipelago during the rainy season, which started in September.

The disasters are often caused by deforestation and poor mitigation planning, according to environmentalists.

Seven people were killed in a landslide triggered by torrential storms in Sumatra last month.

In April, more than 200 people were killed in a cluster of far-eastern islands in Indonesia and neighbouring Timor Leste as Tropical Cyclone Seroja turned small communities into wastelands of mud and uprooted trees.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

760,000 affected by South Sudan floods: UN
Juba (AFP) Nov 3, 2021
Flooding from six months of torrential rain in South Sudan has affected 760,000 people, the UN's emergency-response agency said Wednesday, as it appealed for funds. Eight out of South Sudan's 10 states have now been hit by flooding, affecting access to healthcare and other services, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a briefing note. Aid efforts have been disrupted by fighting between rival ethnic groups in the south of the country, and people have sought refu ... read more