Landslide triggered by rain in Indonesia's Sumatra island kills at least 7 people

SIBOLANGIT, Indonesia (AP) — Seven people have died in a landslide triggered by torrential rains in Indonesia’s Sumatra island, officials said on Thursday, adding to the death toll from landslides in the region this week.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of the victims, including a driver and passengers, from a tourist bus that was covered by trees, mud, and rocks in the landslide on the road from Medan city to Berastagi town in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. The route is the main access from the capital Medan to other districts in the region.

The bus was among vehicles that had been cut off by landslides on the road since Wednesday morning.

More than 10 people were also injured and have been evacuated to the hospital in Medan city.

Muji Ediyanto, traffic director of the North Sumatra Regional Police, said in a video messager distributed by Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency on Thursday said that some vehicles remain trapped between the landslide locations along that road.

“It will take at least two days to evacuate them from the landslide. Several vehicles are still trapped by piles (from the) landslides. There are also fallen trees at several points and landslides and the vehicles have not been able to get out of the locations,” Ediyanto said.

Earlier this week, 20 people died after flash floods and landslides at four locations in the mountainsides of North Sumatra province, including in Karo regency that is located less than 20 kilometers from the most-recent landslide location.

Seasonal rains from around October through to March frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

A man wades through flood water following heavy downpours in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Rescuers use rubber boats to help residents evacuate their homes in a flooded neighborhood following heavy downpours in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Rescuers use rubber boat to help residents evacuate their homes in a flooded neighborhood following heavy downpours in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Rescuers use heavy machines to clear mud from a road following a landslide that hit several vehicles and killed multiple people in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Wreckage of vehicles rest on a road that was hit by a landslide that killed multiple people in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Rescuers use heavy machines to clear mud from a road following a landslide that hit vehicles and killed multiple people in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Rescuers and villagers are seen through the wreckage of a vehicle following a landslide that killed multiple people in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Rescuers use heavy machine to clear mud from a road following a landslide that hit several vehicles and killed multiple people in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Rescuers remove the body of a victim from the wreckage of a vehicle after it was hit by a landslide that killed multiple people in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Rescuers remove the body of a victim from the wreckage of a vehicle after it was hit by a landslide that killed multiple people in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia conducted a “massive” missile and drone attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Thursday, officials said, adding to fears that the Kremlin aims to cripple the country's power generation capacity before winter.

“Attacks on energy facilities are happening all over Ukraine,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said in a post on Facebook. He added that emergency power outages were implemented nationwide.

Ukrainian officials have warned recently that Russia was stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles, presumably for another pre-winter aerial campaign against Ukraine’s power grid. Ukrainian officials have in the past accused Russia of “weaponizing winter.”

Around half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the almost three years of war with Russia, and rolling electricity blackouts are common. Kyiv's Western allies have sought to help Ukraine protect power generation with air defense systems and funds for rebuilding.

Russia in previous years has targeted Ukraine’s electricity generation, aiming to deny civilians critical heating and drinking water supplies during the bitter winter months and break Ukrainian spirits. The attacks also seek to hobble Ukraine’s defense industry that is now producing missiles, drones and armored vehicles, among other military assets.

The war has been going in Russia's favor in recent months as its bigger army uses its advantages in manpower and equipment to push Ukrainian forces backward in eastern areas, though its offensive has been slow and costly.

Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, and many other cities in central and western Ukraine.

The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said in a Telegram post that Russia had stockpiled missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure and wage war against civilians during the cold season. “They were helped by their crazy allies, including from North Korea,” he wrote.

Western governments and South Korea say North Korea in recent months has intensified its military support for Russia.

The head of the Lviv region in western Ukraine, Maksym Kozytskyi, said the attack left more than half a million households without electricity.

Over 280,000 households in the northwestern Rivne region were without electricity because of the attack, according to regional Gov. Oleksandr Koval. Running water supplies were also patchy in affected areas. Some schools in Rivne city switched to online classes.

There were also strikes on the bordering Volyn region, where 215,000 households had no electricity, regional head Ivan Rudnytskyi said. All critical infrastructure that lost power was switched to generators.

Energy infrastructure was also targeted in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, local officials said. Air defenses were activated there, and emergency power outages were introduced.

Local officials ordered the opening of “points of invincibility” — shelter-type places where people can charge their phones and other electrical devices and get refreshments during blackouts.

In Kyiv, where the air raid alert lasted over nine hours, missile debris fell in one neighborhood, local officials said. No casualties were reported.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, pilots of an Su-34 bomber of the Russian air force fly at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, an Su-34 bomber of the Russian air force drops bombs on Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

The Motherland Monument, center, and the thousand-year-old Monastery of Caves, also known as Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the holiest site of Eastern Orthodox Christians are seen through the morning fog in Kyiv, Ukraine Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)