Landslides and floods kill 51 in Indonesia

Jakarta, June 21: Landslides and floods on Indonesia's eastern Sulawesi island have killed 51 people and the toll could rise, an official today said.

A search-and-rescue operation was under way after two days of heavy rain in several areas in South Sulawesi province. Sinjai regency was the worst-hit area after major flooding early yesterday, rescuers and police said.

''There are now 51 people dead,'' Saktianto, a communications officer for the search-and-rescue operation, said from South Sulawesi's capital Makassar, about 1,400 km east of Jakarta.

The toll could rise, he said, but had no details on the number of people missing.

Torrential rains and landslides are regular features of tropical Indonesia. Rampant deforestation often adds to the ease with which hillsides are saturated and collapse, environmentalists say.

Reuters