37 dead in Sumatra island floods

Padang (Indonesia), May 12

Heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island triggered flashfloods that killed at least 37 people and more than a dozen others were missing, officials said Sunday.

Monsoon rains and a mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, a National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson said.

By Sunday, rescuers had pulled out 19 bodies in the worst-hit village of Canduang in Agam district and recovered nine other bodies in the neighboring district of Tanah Datar, officials said. — AP

Bus crash kills 11 in Indonesia’s west Java

Jakarta: A bus slammed into cars and motorbikes after its brakes malfunctioned in Indonesia’s West Java province, killing at least 11 persons, mostly students, and injuring several others. The bus carrying 61 students and teachers was returning to Depok late Saturday from the hilly resort area of Bandung.