Landslide kills at least 11 in Indonesia’s remote Natuna region

JAKARTA (Reuters): At least 11 people have died in the Indonesian region of Natuna on Monday after a landslide buried houses amid heavy rainfall, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said.

Abdul Muhari, a disaster official, told news channel Kompas TV 11 people had died and 50 are estimated to be missing.

Junainah, a disaster official in Riau Islands province, said the number of fatalities may rise and that communications in the area had been severed.

“The weather is changing. The wind is still blowing hard. The tidal waves are high,” said Junainah, who goes by one name.

The agency said survivors were being evacuated from the Searasan region, while a search and rescue team had been dispatched to the area.

In photos shared by the agency, roofs and trees were seen strewn on the mud-filled ground in heavy rain.

The affected area was on a remote island that was a five-hour boat ride from the capital of Natuna, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said.