Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1518 EAT on Monday 17 November 2025

Dozens of people have been killed across Southeast Asia as the rainy season triggers deadly landslides and flooding.

In Indonesia, at least 18 people have died over the past week, authorities said on Monday, as heavy rains inundated villages and destabilised hillsides. In neighbouring Vietnam, six people were killed late on Sunday when a bus was swept off a road in the country’s central region amid intense downpours.

The rainy season has unleashed deadly landslides across Southeast Asia, killing dozens and leaving many others missing.

In Indonesia, the deaths occurred in two regions of Central Java province. A landslide in the city of Cilacap buried a dozen houses in Cibeunying village, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said. Search and rescue operations have been hampered by mud up to 3 to 8 metres (10 to 25 feet) deep.

Authorities have confirmed at least 16 deaths in Cilacap, with seven people still missing, according to M Abdullah, head of the local search and rescue agency. Excavators were deployed to dig through the debris, footage from KompasTV showed on Monday.

Separately, in Banjarnegara, a landslide on Saturday killed two people and left 27 missing, the disaster mitigation agency said. Up to 30 houses were damaged in the incident.

In Vietnam, a landslide buried a passenger bus on the treacherous Khanh Le Pass in the central part of the country. Six people were killed and 19 injured, according to state media. The bus, carrying 32 passengers, was en route from Da Lat to Nha Trang when the landslide, triggered by heavy rain, crushed its front and trapped many passengers.

Rescuers struggled for hours to reach the scene as heavy rains caused additional landslides on both sides of the mountain pass, cutting off access.

Scientists have warned that a warming climate is making the rainy season — which runs from October to March across parts of Southeast Asia — increasingly hazardous, Al Jazeera reports.

Changes in storm patterns are bringing heavier rainfall, flash floods, stronger winds, and more frequent and destructive landslides.

Earlier this month, Vietnam was hit hard by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which had previously swept through the Philippines, killing at least 188 people.

In Indonesia, flash floods and landslides in a remote area of the eastern Papua region killed at least 15 people and left eight missing in early November. In January, more than 20 residents were killed in Central Java province after torrential rains triggered floods and landslides.

Scientists say these events reflect a broader trend of worsening weather hazards across the region, intensified by climate change.

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