Landslides kill 24 in Indonesia, 23 missing

JAKARTA, June 20 (Reuters) Landslides caused by heavy rain on Indonesia's eastern Sulawesi island have killed 24 people, while another 23 are missing, an official said today.

Two days of rain had caused landslides and floods in several areas in South Sulawesi province. Sinjai regency was the worst-hit area after major flooding hit the area early today, rescuers and police said.

''The toll from the floods and landslides in Sinjai regency is 21 dead, five injured and 15 missing,'' South Sulawesi police officer Ashadi told Reuters by phone from the provincial capital of Makassar, some 1,400 km east of Jakarta.

He said three people died in other parts of the province and eight were missing.

Torrential rains are a regular feature of tropical Indonesia, with deadly landslides a frequent occurrence.

Rampant logging often adds to the ease with which hillsides collapse, environmentalists say.

REUTERS KD RK1845