Jakarta – Landslides and floods that struck Indonesia's main island of Java last week killed 107 people and left 12 missing, a health ministry official said Wednesday, as waters receded in the worst hit areas.

Torrential rains across Central and East Java provinces triggered landslides that engulfed homes and floods along the island's longest river which displaced tens of thousands of people, hundreds of whom remained in shelters.

"The death toll in landslides and floods in Central and East Java reached 107 dead, with 12 people still missing," health ministry official Rustam Pakaya told AFP in a text message.

He said that 78 lives were claimed and 12 people were missing in Central Java, where the worst landslides occurred and authorities have struggled to recover bodies, while in East Java 29 fatalities were recorded.

Pakaya said that about 20 tonnes of baby food and 15 tonnes of instant meals had been dispatched to the disaster zones along with two trucks loaded with medicines.

Red Cross official Rukman told AFP that more than 12,000 houses in both provinces had been damaged, including more than 300 destroyed.

In East Java's Ngawi district, which was worst hit by floods early this week, local official Sulami said that waters had receded in several areas and people had returned home to start mopping up.

In nearby Lamongan district, where floods peaked on Tuesday, district policeman Kasiri told AFP that flood levels were dropping but remained up to 1.5 metres (yards) high in some areas, with hundreds of families in shelters.

Landslides and flooding are common in Indonesia during the rainy season, which hits a peak from December to February.