JAKARTA • A massive flood and numerous landslides caused by an overnight heavy downpour that started on New Year's Eve left at least nine people dead in the Indonesian capital.

Electricity was cut off in hundreds of neighbourhoods across Jakarta, home to about 30 million, with some train lines and one of the city's airports also shut.

A 16-year-old was electrocuted by a power line, while three more people died of hypothermia, said Jakarta disaster management agency head Subejo, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

Among the victims were an elderly couple trapped inside their home in a district where floodwaters reached as high as 4m after a river burst its banks.

More than 19,000 residents were also evacuated to temporary shelters, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said yesterday. "The rain in Jakarta has stopped; now we are waiting for the water to recede."

The flood there and in satellite cities of Tangerang and Bekasi started to quickly rise from 3am local time.

Flights were cancelled at Halim Perdanakusuma airport while many flights were diverted to Jakarta's main Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS