Floods on Sumatra island, almost 500 dead and 400 missing

At least 469 people have been killed, 464 injured and 402 are missing on the Indonesian island of Sumatra as a result of devastating floods caused by torrential rainfall in the region in recent days. The new death toll was provided today by the Indonesian National Disaster Agency, adding that 290,000 people have been displaced by the floods. The monsoon season, exacerbated by tropical storms, is causing the worst flooding recorded in South East Asia in recent years. Hundreds of people are dead and missing in Malaysia and Thailand, where the official death toll is 170. 334 are dead in Sri Lanka.