Rescuers search for victims following a flash flood in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020. The flash flood hit hundreds of students and teachers who were hiking along a river on Indonesia's main island of Java, killing a number of students, officials said.
At least six students died when a flash flood hit a school group hiking on Indonesia's main island of Java.
About 250 junior high students and teachers were hiking along the Sempor river in Yogyakarta province when a downpour caused the river to overflow its banks, the Associated Press reported.
Six bodies were pulled from the water and another five were missing. In all, 239 students were rescued, including 10 who were treated for injuries.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo told the AP the group wasn't paying attention to weather conditions.
Lt. Col. Diantoro, a local military chief who led the search and rescue operation, said the bodies were found a short distance down the river.
Landslides and flash floods are frequent in Indonesia.
West Java, several hundred miles north of where the students were killed, has recently been plagued by heavy rains. At least four people were killed in a landslide there, and some 16,000 houses and 47 schools are flooded, according to an update posted Thursday on ReliefWeb.
Monsoon rains and flooding killed at least 30 people in the country's capital of Jakarta in January, and more than 90 were killed in flooding and landslides on the Indonesian island of Lombok last year.
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