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Posted: Sun, 14 Oct 2018 02:06:19 GMT

AT LEAST 27 people, including a dozen schoolchildren have been confirmed dead after flash floods and landslides in Indonesia.

An Islamic school in a North Sumatra province was struck by a flash flood, mud and debris on Friday. Local police chief Irsan Sinuhaji, confirmed 29 children were swept away.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho confirmed rescuers retrieved 11 bodies of students on Friday, while villagers and rescuers were able to save 17 children and several other teachers.

“Eleven students of an Islamic boarding school in Muara Saladi village, Mandailing Natal district, North Sumatra died Friday afternoon during class as they were struck by a building which was destroyed by the flash floods,” Mr Nugroho said.

North and West Sumatra provinces have announced a week-long emergency relief period and hundreds of villagers have fled their homes on the hillside, seeking safer ground and injured people are still being rushed to hospital.

Seasonal downpours in the region is common, as are landslides and floods.

On Saturday, a body was found in the Aek Saladi river, which is near the school.

In Mandailing Natal, 17 houses collapsed and 12 were swept away in floods, hundreds of homes were devestated and flooded up to 2 metres high. Two bodies were found in Mandailing Natal on Saturday morning, from a car being washed away in the floods.

In the neighbouring Sibolga district, four villagers were killed. Landslides hit 29 houses and about 100 buildings were flooded, according to Mr Nugroho.

In West Sumatra, several villages were affected by flash flooding. In Tanah Datar, five have been killed, including two children and another remains missing.

West Sumatra’s Padang Pariaman and West Pasaman districts were also devestated by landslides and flooding. Four villagers were killed while 500 homes flooded and three bridges collapsed.

-With wires

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