Rescuers in Indonesia retrieved four dead, including those of two children, after a landslide and water struck a village on Java island, while six more are still missing, an official said Wednesday.
Cibenda village in West Java Province was inundated shortly before midnight on Sunday evening, following hours of severe rain while many locals were sleeping.
Ten people were initially reported missing, and scores of homes were damaged, causing hundreds to flee.
“Until this morning, four bodies have been retrieved, and six more are still being searched,” Meidi, the chief of the local disaster mitigation agency who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name, told AFP.
Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, and the problem has been exacerbated in some areas by deforestation, with continuous torrential rain creating flooding in some parts of the archipelago nation.
Earlier this month, Sumatra island saw flash flooding and landslides, killing at least 30 people and leaving scores missing.
In December, a landslide and water devastated dozens of homes and a hotel near Sumatra’s Lake Toba, killing at least two people.