At least 17 people are still missing after heavy rains washed mud and cold lava onto the slopes of Mount Marapi.
At least 41 people have been confirmed dead after hours of torrential rain triggered flash floods and a flow of cold lava from a volcano in western Indonesia over the weekend.
A local disaster official told the AFP news agency that 17 other people were still missing after the disaster. downpour On Saturday evening, ash and large boulders swept over Mount Marapi, the most active volcano on the island of Sumatra.
Three people are missing in the Agam district and 14 in Tanah Datar, two areas most affected by the floods and home to hundreds of thousands of people, Ilham Wahab, head of the disaster agency, told AFP. West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation.
Around 400 people, including police, soldiers and local rescue teams, were deployed to search for the missing, using at least eight excavators and drones.
Marapi erupted in Decemberkilling more than 20 people.
Cold lava, also known as lahar, is volcanic material such as ash, sand and pebbles washed down the slopes of a volcano by rain.
The rain turned roads into muddy rivers, washed away vehicles and damaged houses and other buildings.
Damage to roads hampered relief efforts.
Indonesia is prone to landslides and flooding during the rainy season.
In 2022, around 24,000 people were evacuated and two children were killed in floods on the island of Sumatra, with conservationists blaming deforestation caused by logging for worsening the disaster.
