Jakarta, Jan 20 (IANS): At least seven people were killed and three reported missing after a flash flood made a crowded hanging bridge over a river in Indonesia collapse, officials said on Monday.

The incident took place due to heavy rainfall in Kaur district in the province of Bengkulu, Efe news reported

"Volunteers have been working to search for missing victims and emergency posts have been established," Agus Wibobo, a spokesperson for Indonesia's national disaster management authority (BNPB), said, adding that at least 17 people survived the collapse.

Three of the bodies were found several miles away from the bridge's debris, which was completely submerged in the river, as could be seen in images released by the BNPB.

The Indonesian meteorological agency (BMKG) on Monday issued an alert for heavy rains in several parts of the archipelago, including Bengkulu, where strong winds and lightning storms are expected. The bad weather is forecast to continue throughout the week.

In late December and early January, the torrential rains ravaging the Southeast Asian nation left a death toll of at least 66 people in the Jakarta metropolitan area - where some 30 million inhabitants live amid overflowing waterways - and the west of Java Island, while tens of thousands were displaced from their homes.

Jakarta police have reported the destruction of at least 16 mosques so far. Two weeks ago, a five-storey building in the west of the capital partially caved in, injuring eight people.

The structure's collapse was triggered by a huge pool of water that formed on the fifth floor.