Flooding kills nine in Indonesia

Rescue officials say seasonal flooding in central Indonesia has killed nine people and forced 30,000 from their homes.

Rustam Pakaya, who works at the government crisis centre, said today that five days of heavy rain caused the Bengawan Solo River on Java island to break its banks.

Thousands of houses were inundated in four districts 435 miles east of the capital, Jakarta.

Rustam says nine people were found dead and 30,000 are living in emergency tents or seeking refuge at government offices and public buildings.

Seasonal downpours cause dozens of flash floods each year in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands, where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.