Landslides and floods on Indonesia's eastern Sulawesi island have killed 114 people and the toll could rise further, officials said today.
A search-and-rescue operation was under way after two days of heavy rain in several areas in South Sulawesi province.
Residents remove a body from the flood-swept Sinjai district on Indonesia's eastern Sulawesi island
Sinjai regency was the worst-hit area after major flooding yesterday morning, rescuers and police said.
So far 114 people had died, Moersen Buana of the disaster task force told journalists.
Torrential rains and landslides are regular features of tropical Indonesia. Rampant deforestation often adds to the ease with which hillsides are saturated and collapse, environmentalists say.
The central government had sent blankets, medicines and sarongs for the affected people of Sulawesi, Social Minister Bachtiar Chamsah told reporters in Jakarta.
He said he had instructed ministry officials at the disaster sites to evacuate people to safe areas.
Health minister Siti Fadilah Supari said her ministry had sent medicine, biscuits and 200 body bags.