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Rescuers recover 20 bodies from flash floods, landslides on Indonesia's
Sumatra island

by Associated Press

   KARO, Indonesia --

   Indonesian rescuers have recovered 20 bodies and are looking for two
   villagers who remain missing after flash floods on Sumatra island
   caused mud and rocks to tumble down mountainsides, officials said
   Tuesday.

   Torrential rains over the weekend caused rivers to burst their banks in
   four hilly districts in North Sumatra province, washing away houses and
   destroying farms.

   Four more bodies were recovered Monday evening in Karo Regency,
   bringing the total there to 10, National Disaster Management Agency
   spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement Tuesday.

   Flash floods also left four people dead in Deli Serdang district, and
   rescue workers were still searching for two people who were swept away.

   Earlier, rescuers recovered two bodies in villages in South Tapanuli
   district, and four members of a family, including two children, in
   Harang Julu, a mountainside village in Padang Lawas district.

   Seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding
   and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where
   millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood
   plains.