Fifteen killed in flash floods caused by heavy rain and cold lava flow

People inspect an area affected by flash flood in Agam, West Sumatra. Picture: Ali Nayaka/AP

Heavy rain and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island have triggered flash floods that killed at least 15 people and injured several others.

Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in Agam and Tanah Datar districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday.