Flash floods kill nine in Indonesia

Flash floods and landslides have killed at least nine people and forced thousands into temporary shelters on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, the local disaster agency said yesterday. Torrential rain in North Sumatra this week sparked the disaster, with most victims drowning or hit by logs swept away in the current, the agency added. Rampant illegal logging in the area may have contributed to the disaster by loosening the soil and making it susceptible to landslides.