MANDALING NATAL, Indonesia: At least 22 people have died and many are missing after heavy rain unleashed flash floods and landslides in western Indonesia, an official said

Heavy downpours since Wednesday triggered flooding and landslides that hit several districts on Sumatra island. North and West Sumatra provinces have announced a week-long emergency relief period and hundreds of villagers have fled their homes on the hillside, seeking safer ground and injured people are still being rushed to hospital. “Eleven students of an Islamic boarding school in Muara Saladi village, Mandailing Natal district, North Sumatra died Friday afternoon during class as they were struck by a building which was destroyed by the flash floods,” spokesman for the national disaster agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. "The disaster and search and rescue agency have gone to the districts but have been hampered by the landslides in several areas," head of the North Sumatra disaster agency Riadil Lubis told Agence France-Presse.
At least 27 people die and many others disappear after heavy floods and landslides in Sumatra, Indonesia.