YOGYAKARTA, Feb 21 — At least six students drowned and five others are missing after being caught by a flash flood in torrential rain while trekking near a river in Indonesia.

Around two dozen students from a group of 250 were injured in the incident and taken to hospital in Yogyakarta, the country’s cultural capital on Java island.

"While they were trekking, suddenly the flood with strong current hit and swept away some students,” said national disaster mitigation agency spokesman Agus Wibowo in a statement.

The students were from school scout clubs.

The South-east Asian archipelago is regularly hit by floods during the rainy season, which started in late November.

Torrential rain in January triggered flooding and landslides that killed nearly 70 people in and around the capital, Jakarta, while thousands more were forced to evacuate to shelters. — AFP