Indonesian town buries its dead in mass grave as flood toll rises

Families gathered at a health centre in the Indonesian town of Batang Toru on Friday, desperate for news about missing loved ones, as locals dug a mass grave to bury seven unclaimed victims of the cyclonic rains that have battered the country's western-most island of Sumatra.



The rains caused floods and landslides in three provinces across Sumatra island, killing at least 94 people, according to Indonesia's disaster agencies. Nearly 80,000 people have been evacuated and about 80 people are still missing.



In Batang Toru, where at least 21 have died, residents lifted seven decomposing bodies, wrapped in black plastic, from the back of a truck onto a wide plot of land belonging to a state plantation firm, while an excavator dumped clumps of dirt to bury them in a mass grave.



Indonesian authorities are rushing to respond to the worst rains and floods to hit the region in years. The death toll has risen sharply over the last 24 hours, and officials fear it may increase further.