Jakarta: The death toll from flash floods in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province reached 16 on Wednesday while 23 people are reported to be missing, Xinhua reported.
"The 16 bodies have been shifted to three different hospitals," chief of North Luwu District Disaster Mitigation Agency Muslim Muchtar was quoted as saying by news website Lipiutan6.com.
Rescuers were still searching for the missing people in the district. "We are still focusing on searching and rescuing victims," Muchtar said.
Nearly 5,000 families have been impacted by the floods after three rivers in the district - Masamba, Rongkong and Mely - overflowed due to heavy downpours on Sunday and Monday, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). The agency warned people in the area of more flooding as rains were predicted to continue until Thursday.
Several buildings and roads to some villages were reportedly buried by mud, making it difficult to evacuate people and distribute relief aid. (ANI)
