Landslide triggered by rain in Indonesia’s Sumatra island kills 9 people in a tourist bus

SIBOLANGIT, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers recovered two more bodies from a tourist bus hit by a landslide triggered by torrential rains on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, bringing the death toll to nine, officials said.

At least 20 people have died in other landslides and floods in the region this week.

Rescuers recovered the bodies from the bus, which was covered by trees, mud and rocks from the landslide on the road from Medan city to Berastagi in North Sumatra province, officials said late Thursday. The road is the main route from the capital, Medan, to other districts in the region.

The bus was among vehicles that had been cut off by previous landslides along the road since Wednesday morning.

More than 10 people were also injured and were taken to a hospital in Medan city.

Muji Ediyanto of the North Sumatra Regional Police said in a video message distributed by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency on Thursday that some vehicles and their passengers remained trapped between landslides along the road.

“It will take at least two days to evacuate them from the landslides. Several vehicles are still trapped by debris from the landslides. There also are fallen trees at several points and the vehicles have not been able to get out of those locations,” Ediyanto said.

Earlier this week, 20 people died from flash floods and landslides at four locations in the mountains of North Sumatra province, including in Karo regency, which is less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the most-recent landslides.

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

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Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.