Indonesia: Floods, mudslides on Sumatra leave scores dead

At least 50 people have been killed after heavy rainfall and mudslides in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra over the weekend. Rescuers are expecting to find more victims, according to a disaster control spokesman, with at least 15 people still missing.

Hours of heavy rain flooded several villages on Saturday, also triggering a massive mudslide on the slopes of the Mount Marapi volcano. Avalanches of water, debris and dust are considered particularly dangerous as they occur suddenly and can move downhill very quickly if the slope is steep enough.

Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most geologically active zone on Earth. The 2,891-meter (9,484-feet) Mount Marapi is one of 130 active volcanoes in the island state. During an eruption in December, it spewed ash up to 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) in the air. This ash left behind on the volcano's slopes contributed to the recent dangerous mudslides.

The floods forced more than 3,100 people to flee to temporary emergency shelters. Ilham Wahab, head of the West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency, called on those affected to seek refuge with relatives, adding that tents would not provide sufficient protection from the continuing heavy rainfall.

In Lima Kaum, houses, rice fields and the local mosque were flooded with mud. But locals consider themselves lucky: excavators have already reached the area and begun the laborious cleanup work. Due to blocked access roads, authorities are struggling to get excavators, tractors and other heavy equipment into other affected areas.

"The devastated area is so vast and complicated, we badly need more excavators and mud pumps," Abdul Malik, who heads the search and rescue office in Padang, the provincial capital, told The Associated Press news agency. In some cases, people have been forced to dig through the rubble with shovels or their bare hands, as seen here in Agam.

These children, at least, have managed to look on the bright side, turning a flooded cemetery into a temporary swimming pool.

Natural disasters such as floods and landslides frequently strike Indonesia during the rainy season. In mid-April, at least 15 people were killed by landslides on the neighboring island of Sulawesi as a result of heavy rainfall. Environmentalists have blamed deforestation caused by loggers in parts of the island state for the repeated disasters.