13 dead, thousands caught in flooding in central Indonesia

A motorist rides past the wreckage of a truck partially buried under the mud following a landslide in Songan village on Bali island, Indonesia, Friday, Feb 10, 2017. A number of people including young children were killed in the landslides on the tourist island that wiped out several homes, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said. AP Photo

JAKARTA, Indonesia— Up to 40,000 people have been caught in severe flooding following days of torrential rain in central Indonesia, where the death toll from landslides on Bali resort island rose to 13.

Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said Saturday that incessant rains in the past five days caused rivers on Sumbawa Island to break their banks and inundate seven sub-districts in West Nusa Tenggara province.

Dewa Made Indra, an agency’s official in Bali, says a new landslide in Subaya village on Friday killed one villager. Earlier, 12 people were killed in landslides that wiped out several homes in three mountain villages.

Rains often cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago where millions of people live in mountainous areas or on flood plains near rivers.