24 killed and at least 26 missing after floods and landslides hit Indonesia

Flooding and landslides in Indonesia have left 24 dead and more than two dozen missing, with mud avalanches burying people inside their homes, officials said on Sunday.

Since Saturday, torrential rain has triggered serious flooding across Central Java, with thousands of homes inundated, said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

According to Firstpost, Sutopo in a statement said, "Initial data... shows the impact of the floods and landslides in Central Java has caused 24 deaths, with 26 others still missing."

Footage aired by local broadcasters showed cars and homes submerged in brown water and villagers sitting on their roofs to escape the rising water.

Areas prone to landslides in the densely-populated province were the worst hit, with drivers swept off roads and dozens of homes destroyed by fast-moving walls of mud, rock, and water.

In one of the districts, nine people died while they were trying to clear rubble from a road. In another, five people were buried in their homes as a landslide swept through the village.

"Suddenly a huge landslide struck the cars and people on the street. Nine bodies were retrieved," Sutopo said in a statement.

Search and rescue crews are searching villages for the 26 still missing, he added. Temporary shelters have been erected to help those evacuated from the disaster zone.

Last month, fifteen students holidaying at a popular tourist spot in western Indonesia were killed when a landslide swept through their camp ground.