JAKARTA ~ Four people were killed in a landslide triggered by heavy rains in the eastern province of Maluku on Wednesday, a Health Ministry official said.
“Four people have been killed and two others were hospitalized when a landslide struck” the city of Ambon, Rustam Pakaya, chief of the ministry’s crisis centre, said.
John Soplanit, a resident of Ambon’s Nusaniwe subdistrict, said at least 23 houses in his neighborhood were damaged. He said the landslide struck at 7am and roads in the area had been cut off.
There had been heavy rain in the area since late on Tuesday, he said.
Landslides and flooding are common in Indonesia during the rainy season, which peaks between December and February.