Landslides kill 17 in eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA, March 3 (Reuters) Landslides caused by torrential rains in the eastern Indonesian island of Flores killed at least 17 people and left 46 missing, a government official said today.

The heavy rains also caused flooding and washed away dozens of homes in six hilly districts in East Nusa Tenggara province, Yos Nono, an official at the disaster management office in Manggarai regency, told Reuters.

''An evacuation team is digging to search for the victims, but we are facing problems because of bad weather and heavy rain,'' Nono said.

He said the road from Ruteng, the main town in the area, to Reok district was cut off because of the landslide and some areas had turned into virtual lakes.

Officials had no estimate of the number of people who may have been displaced from their homes, but the government was distributing rice, noodles and canned fish to victims.

Indonesia is in the middle of the rainy season when landslides are frequent in the country. Tropical downpours can quickly soak hillsides where deforestation has left little vegetation to hold the soil.

REUTERS PDM RK1312