At least 14 dead, several missing in Indonesia: flash floods, cold lava flow | Weather report

Heavy rain triggered a flash flood and cold lava flow from Mount Marapi, leading to the disaster in West Sumatra.

At least 14 people, including several children, have been killed and many more are missing after flash floods and cold lava flow from a volcano hit western Indonesia, rescue workers said.

The Basarnas search and rescue agency said in a statement on Sunday that the disaster struck Agam and Tanah Datar districts in West Sumatra province around 10:30 p.m. (15:30 GMT) on Saturday, after hours of heavy rain a flash flood and a cold had triggered lava flow from Mount Marapi.

Cold lava, also called lahar, is volcanic material such as ash, sand and pebbles that is carried down the slopes of a volcano by rain.

Ilham Wahab, head of the regional disaster management agency in West Sumatra, was quoted by Indonesian media outlet Sumbar as saying that at least 14 people had been killed as of Sunday morning.

Abdul Malik, head of the local rescue authority, said nine bodies had been identified, including those of a three-year-old and an eight-year-old.

Four more people were still being searched in Agam district, he said. “Today we will continue the search in the two districts.”

Photos and videos posted on social media showed large rocks and thick mud covering the streets of West Sumatra.

The disaster occurred just two months after another deadly flood struck the same island.

Authorities dispatched a team of rescuers and inflatable boats to search for the missing victims and transport people to emergency shelters.

The local government set up evacuation centers and emergency posts at several locations in the two districts.

Indonesia is prone to landslides and floods during the rainy season.

Last week, 15 people died in South Sulawesi after landslides and floods destroyed homes and damaged roads.

In March, at least 26 people were found dead in landslides and floods in West Sumatra.

Saturday’s floods in Agam and Tanah Datar also flushed cold lava from Mount Marapi, the most active volcano in Sumatra and one of nearly 130 active volcanoes in the Indonesian archipelago.

In December, Marapi erupted, spewing a tower of ash 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) into the sky, higher than the volcano itself.

At least 24 climbers, most of them university students, died in the eruption.

In another deadly incident on Saturday evening, at least 11 people died and dozens more were injured when a bus carrying more than 60 students on a graduation trip and their teachers crashed on Indonesia’s largest island, Java.