Flash floods, landslides, waves kill 18 in Indonesia

Feb 2, 2009, 5:48 GMT

   Jakarta - Landslides, flash floods and high waves have killed at least 18 people on Indonesia's Java and Sulawesi islands, officials and media reports said Monday.

   The flash floods, triggered by incessant rains, caused the Bengawan Solo River to burst its banks, submerging thousands of homes Monday in the East Java district of Bojonegoro.

   The floodwaters inundated homes in dozens of villages over the weekend in the upper regions of the river in central Java's Solo regency and nearby areas.

   In addition, more than 1,700 hectares of rice fields in Bojonegoro were inundated by floodwaters up to 1-metre deep, officials said.

   Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis centre, said rain-triggered landslides killed at least seven people - six in central Java and one in southern Sulawesi - while two people were killed in flash floods in the two provinces.

   In East Java province, two people were killed and another two were missing and feared dead after flooding swept through the Jember and adjacent Pasuruan district. Hundreds of other residents remained at an evacuation centre after floodwaters had inundated their homes since the middle of last week.

   Separately, along the southern coast of Java, the bodies of three high-school students were found on Parangtritis beach south of Yogyakarta while two others were still missing and feared dead. The five students were swept away by large waves while swimming at the beach Saturday.

   The flash floods also swept through the Central Java district of Cilacap, forcing several hundred people to flee their homes.

   Landslides and floods are common during the rainy season in Indonesia, which is losing its forests at the world's fastest rate because of illegal logging and palm-oil plantations.