Indonesia searches for 35 still missing in deadly Sumatra floods

The search for 35 people who are still missing from flash floods and mud slides in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province continued on Wednesday, authorities said, as the death toll from the weekend disaster rose to 58.
Heavy rain on Saturday evening triggered flash floods, landslides, and cold lava flow – a mud-like mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris and water – in three districts and one town in West Sumatra province. By Tuesday, the death toll was at 52.
The cold lava flow, known by the Indonesian word lahar, came from Mount Marapi, one of Sumatra’s most active volcanoes. More than 20 people were killed when Marapi erupted in December. A series of eruptions have followed since.
The national disaster and management agency BNPB will focus the search for the missing people in areas near rivers and clean the main roads from the large rocks, debris, mud brought by the floods, its head Suharyanto said in a statement on Wednesday.