Indonesian officials say rescuers have recovered 16 bodies under tons of mud and rocks or that were swept away in flash floods that hit mountainside villages on Sumatra Island.

Rescuers use excavators, farm equipment and their bare hands to sift through the rubble looking for the dead and missing.

Rescuers in Indonesia recovered 16 bodies under tons of mud and rocks swept away in flash floods that hit mountainside villages in Sumatra, officials said. Six people are still missing, according to officials.

In Deli Serdang, six people were killed, and nine others sustained injuries after strong currents swept away four houses and a religious building.

Six people were killed and seven others injured after landslides and flash floods hit Indonesia's North Sumatra province on Saturday night (Nov 23).