Landslides in Indonesia's Bali kill several

Landslides triggered by heavy rains wiped out several homes in Bali, killing at least 12 people, Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency said on Friday.

Several houses in the mountainous areas of the Kintamani district were buried and badly damaged in the landslides, which took place on Thursday night. Three villages located on the slopes of the Mount Batur volcano (pictured above) were affected.

Among the dead are a 1-year-old boy, his 7-year-old sister and their mother in Songan village. Another 10-year-old died in another nearby village. Five people were injured, three of them seriously.

"All victims have been evacuated and the injured have been taken to hospital," said an agency official in Bali, Indra Kalak.

Another disaster agency official, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, posted pictures of the landslide on Twitter.

The agency said villages had been evacuated from the affected areas and no one else was believed to be missing.

However, officials warned that more heavy rains were likely to continue in Bali on Saturday and Sunday, raising the risk of further landslides, and floods.

Flooding and landslides frequently occur in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near rivers.

In December, 29 people died and 19 other were missing when floods and landslides struck Garut, a western region of Indonesia's main island of Java.

Bali is a popular tourist destination known for its beaches and lush scenery.

rs/msh  (AP, AFP, Reuters)