Rescuers have evacuated at least 72 dead bodies drowning in a flash flood that hit a popular tourist resort of Langkat in Indonesia's North Sumatra Province, on Monday.

Four foreigners from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Singapore are among the dead, Jakarta-based Metro TV reported.

The flash flood was triggered by days of torrential rain in Langkat, some 90 km from the provincial capital of Medan.

Officials blamed massive logging in a nearby national park for the flood.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2003)