Flash floods, landslide leave six missing in West Sumatra

Nov 8, 2008, 7:59 GMT

Jakarta - Flash floods accompanied by a huge landslide in Indonesia's West Sumatra province killed at least two six people and left hundreds of others homeless, media reports said Saturday.

The disaster took place on Friday evening following hours of torrential rain, inundating hundreds of homes and causing a massive landslide in the village of Malalak, Agam district, about 120 kilometers north of Padang, the provincial capital of West Sumatra.

Agam district spokesman Rahman, who uses only one name, was quoted by the state-run Antara news agency as saying two bridges and two homes were swept away by the floods while the landslide covered some roads and destroyed five other homes.

Police and local volunteers joined to evacuate victims from their houses, destroyed by the floods and landslide, to temporary shelters. Raman added that searches were underway for the six missing persons who were feared dead in the disaster.

Environmentalists have blamed massive deforestation caused by illegal logging for the flood damage.

Indonesia, which is losing its forests at the world's fastest rate, is struggling to save its remaining rainforests from deforestation and is planting tens of millions of trees.