Indonesia landslides, floods kill 7, displace thousands

JAKARTA, July 23 (Reuters) Landslides triggered by torrential rains on Indonesia's Sulawesi island at the weekend killed at least 7 people and displaced 16,000, officials said today.

Fatal landslides occur frequently in Indonesia, where tropical downpours can quickly soak hillsides where years of deforestation often means there is little vegetation to hold the soil.

Rescue teams are searching for 32 people buried by landslides in the Baturube and Bungku Utara districts, but efforts have been hobbled by difficult access to the remote area, which lies 1,700 km northeast of the capital.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the health crisis centre in Jakarta, said the death toll was likely to rise in central Sulawesi province where hundreds of homes have been submerged by flooding in 10 villages.

''I fear the number of victims will rise. Phone connections are cut and road conditions are unknown,'' Pakaya said.

Reuters SKB VP1030