Seventeen people from the same neighbourhood in the Indonesian city of Makassar in South Sulawesi are due to be tested for bird flu after falling sick, a health ministry official said on Thursday. Chandra Yoga Adhitama, acting director-general of communicable disease control, said the group had been hospitalised after chickens in the surrounding area suddenly died.

A 15-year-old Indonesian girl has died of bird flu in central Java, a health official said on Wednesday, bringing the country's death toll from the disease to 113.

The girl died last week after being treated at the Doctor Karyadi hospital in Semarang.
"It has been confirmed by health ministry labs," said Agus Suryanto, the head of the medical team treating the girl.

Indonesia launched a new hi-tech system on Tuesday aimed at detecting a potential tsunami and providing faster alerts in a region battered by frequent earthquakes.

Nearly one thousand families have been affected by floods following heavy rains in Indonesia's Sulawesi island, an official said on Wednesday, with several casualties and damage to homes.

Flash floods hit Palopo, in South Sulawesi province, on Tuesday evening, washing away several makeshift homes. Three people died and four are still missing, an official in Palopo said.

An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's north Sulawesi island on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, the meteorology agency said.

The quake struck at a depth of 32 km (20 miles), and the epicentre was 91 km (56 miles) southwest of Gorontalo town, said Suhardjono, an agency official. The agency did not issue a tsunami warning.

PANGKALPINANG, Indonesia: Tin mining on these sleepy islands east of Sumatra has brought wealth, but at a price; it is literally eating away at the land.

All 10 provincial governors of the island of Sumatra have agreed to a deal to protect endangered forests, a move that could help control planet-warming emissions, Indonesian authorities said at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.