Flash floods swept through a popular tourist resort on Indonesia's Sumatra Island on Monday, killing 24 people, five of them foreigners, and leaving 72 others missing, a rescue official said.

The floods, which were triggered by days of heavy rain, took place late Sunday in Bohorok, close to the provincial capital of Medan in north Sumatra Province.

A large river that flows down from nearby mountains overflowed its banks and washed away dozens of makeshift guesthouses that host tourists who come to the area to see its famous orangutan reserve.

"It was so fast. It came at about 9:30 p.m. and washed away everything within just minutes," said Mega Sembiring, an employee at the Bukit Lawang Cottage.

"I myself saw three houses get totally destroyed and washed away," he said by telephone.

"As far as I know, only Bukit Lawang Cottage and Batu Mandi hotel remain complete. We are now waiting to be evacuated," he said.

A police official, Lt. Kosim, who goes by a single name, put the death toll at 23 and the missing toll at 26. But Robert Sirait, a search and rescue official near the scene, put the number of missing at 72, and said that the 24 confirmed dead included five foreign tourists. No other details were immediately available.

Bohorok lies next to a large river that flows down from nearby mountains. It is home to an Orangutan reserve that attracts thousands of tourists every year, most of whom stay in cheap guesthouses that overlook the river.

(China Daily November 3, 2003)