Indonesia flash floods kill 16

Flash floods and landslides have killed at least 16 people and displaced hundreds in a district on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, officials at the country's disaster mitigation agency said yesterday. Search and rescue officials were still looking for 23 people missing after the floods struck the North Luwu district of South Sulawesi province, said Raditya Jati, a spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency. Heavy rains had inundated three nearby rivers for several days prompting the evacuation of 655 people due to the floods, officials at the local disaster mitigation agency and search and rescue agency told Reuters. Indonesia frequently suffers from floods and landslides particularly during the rainy season, though the situation is often made worse by the cutting down of forests.