Nine Missing, Over 200 Evacuated After Landslide and Floods Hit Indonesia 

At least nine Indonesians were reported missing overnight, and over 200 were evacuated after a landslide and flooding struck their village on Java island, an official said Monday.

Cibenda village in West Java Province was inundated just before midnight on Sunday evening after hours of torrential rain caught many villagers asleep.

“Nine people were reported missing in the flood and landslide that happened in West Bandung (district) on Sunday night,” Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the country’s disaster mitigation agency, said in a statement.

Two more people were injured and taken to a clinic, Muhari said.

Local official Rega Wiguna told AFP rescuers had arrived in the isolated village to search for the missing victims.

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He said around 250 locals were evacuated to a village hall, and schools turned into temporary shelters after dozens of houses were damaged.

Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, and the problem has been aggravated in some places by deforestation, with prolonged torrential rain causing flooding in some areas of the archipelago nation.

Earlier this month, flash flooding and landslides on Sumatra Island killed at least 30 people with scores still missing.

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A landslide and flooding swept away dozens of houses and destroyed a hotel near Lake Toba on Sumatra in December, killing at least two people.

In March 2023, the death toll from a landslide on a remote Indonesian island rose to 50, with four people still missing on the last day of the search.