Landslides kill 11 in Indonesia’s Papua province

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Torrential rains have triggered floods and landslides that killed at least 11 people in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Monday that two people are still missing after the landslides hit three locations in the provincial capital of Jayapura.

He said more than 50 houses have been damaged in the landslides and flooding due to incessant rains that began Saturday night. Rains also caused three rivers in the city to overflow.

Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, a vast chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.