29 November 2025 , 12:54
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At least 279 people have been killed in Indonesia after monsoon rains and an earthquake triggered flooding and landslides.
Rescuers in North Sumatra recovered 31 bodies on Saturday, said a provincial police spokesperson.
Thousands of police were deployed to search for 174 people still missing and help distribute aid to over 28,400 who fled to temporary government shelters across the province, he said.
Torrential rains caused rivers to burst their banks in the province, sweeping people away and submerging houses and buildings.
Dozens were still missing in West Sumatra, where rescuers recovered bodies from houses submerged under mud and rocks, according to the country’s disaster management agency.
More than 500 people were injured, and rescuers are still searching for survivors buried under debris from the landslide, authorities added.
Hundreds of police, soldiers, and residents dug through the debris with their bare hands and shovels as heavy rain hindered their rescue efforts.
Parts of Sumatra were cut off by damaged roads and downed communications lines, and relief aircraft were delivering aid and supplies to hard-hit areas.
Authorities struggled to get tractors and other heavy equipment over roads after torrential rains sent mud and rocks crashing onto villages.
“The death toll is believed to be increasing, since many bodies are still missing, and many have not been reached,” said Suharyanto, head of the country’s National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB.
The region had already been hit by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that struck an island off the coast of Sumatra on Thursday.
The extreme weather was driven by tropical Cyclone Senyar, part of a weather system that has claimed lives across Southeast Asia, with at least 162 killed in Thailand and fatalities also reported in the Philippines.
More than 1.4 million households and 3.8 million people in Thailand were affected by floods, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said on Friday.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul acknowledged shortcomings in flood management and apologized to people in affected areas that "the government was unable to take care and protect them".
This coincides with another tropical storm further west, named Cyclone Ditwa, which had brought flooding and landslides to Sri Lanka.
Head of Investigations