Indonesia toll touches 59

Floods and landslides in Indonesia have killed at least 59 people, the government said Friday, after heavy rain pounded Sulawesi island and forced thousands to flee their homes. “I’ve never seen something this bad -- this is the worst,” Syamsibar, head of South Sulawesi’s disaster mitigation agency, told AFP, adding that 25 people were still missing.

Lashed by the heavy rain, rivers swelled and burst their banks, inundating dozens of communities in 11 districts of southern Sulawesi. Parts of the provincial capital Makassar have also been affected. Gowa district suffered the heaviest casualties, with 44 people found dead, said Syamsibar, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. Some 3,400 people were evacuated from their homes and given refuge in schools, mosques and tents.