Landslide and flash floods hit Indonesia’s Sumatra island, leaving 16 dead and 6 missing

Associated Press

KARO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian officials say rescuers have recovered 16 bodies under tons of mud and rocks or that were swept away in flash floods that hit mountainside villages on Sumatra Island. Six people are still missing. Mud, rocks and trees tumbled down a mountain after torrential rains over the weekend, and rivers burst their banks, tearing through four hilly districts in North Sumatra province, washing away houses and destroying farms. Seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.