Dozens of villages in Sulawesi have been flooded by torrential rains in the past few days and the resulting landslides have left people buried under buildings. Many villages are covered by mud. Earlier reports said seven bodies had been found and over 30 people were reported missing.
Rustam Pakaya said that although the government has sent doctors, medicines, food and other essentials to the disaster-hit area, rescuers have been unable to reach the district, which is a six-hour drive from the nearest city.
The latest reports said some 4,300 people had been evacuated from another rain-hit Indonesian island, Sumatra. No casualties have been reported, the Detik.com Website said Tuesday.
The Internet portal said three rivers had been flooded in North Sumatra. "Heavy floods have destroyed several village houses and bridges across the province," the source said. "Water has risen two meters in some areas, and communication between the province's administrative center and towns has been cut."
Floods and landslides are frequent in Indonesia, especially in the monsoon.
The province of Central Sulawesi has seen a series of heavy floods causing landslides in the past decades.
