
Indonesian rescue teams are racing against time after flash floods and landslides claimed 17 lives on Java island.
The disaster, fueled by torrential rains on Monday, struck nine villages in Pekalongan Regency, Central Java.
Rivers overflowed, and a cascade of mud, rocks, and trees engulfed mountainside communities, leaving chaos in its wake.
Bergas Catursasi, head of the local Disaster Management Agency, confirmed that the worst-hit village, Petungkriyono, suffered immense losses.
Rescue teams have recovered 17 bodies while searching for eight missing villagers amidst the devastation.
Eleven injured individuals were pulled from the wreckage and rushed to nearby hospitals for urgent care.
Survivors recount harrowing escapes as floodwaters swept away everything in their path.
Rescuers are using excavators, farm tools, and their bare hands to sift through debris in a desperate search for survivors.
Television reports show workers carrying bodies in bamboo stretchers to waiting ambulances, their progress hindered by bad weather and treacherous terrain.
“Many people were swept away as they sought shelter or fished near the river during the flash floods,” Catursasi revealed.
The disaster also destroyed two major bridges connecting villages in the region, isolating communities and complicating relief efforts.
Vehicles and homes were buried or swept away, leaving survivors with little but despair.
Indonesia frequently faces flooding and landslides during its rainy season, from October to March.
This latest tragedy follows similar incidents in recent months, highlighting the ongoing vulnerability of the archipelago’s 17,000 islands.