As of late Friday afternoon rescue workers had recovered 123 bodies, 10 of them found earlier in the day, said Masrizan, head of a unit tasked with finding flood victims in the resort town of Bahorok in Langkat district.

Workers found all seven bodies badly decomposed under piles of tree logs and mud, he told Elshinta radio.

Earlier Friday, Johnny Sitorus of the search and rescue office in the provincial capital Medan said 147 people are still missing but the search will continue despite a slim chance of finding them alive.

Rescuers in recent days have given different figures for the number reported missing and caution that the figure could include some people who were out of town when the flood struck Sunday night.

At least 200 people are feared dead after the flood swept through Bahorok late Monday night.

The level of the Bahorok river had subsided Friday but a massive pile of logs and mud in the area are hampering the search, Sitorus said.

He said his office will evaluate on Monday how long the search would continue but "it doesn't mean that we will stop the process after one week."

Among those killed were five foreigners. About 450 homes or other structures were destroyed along with 35 resort cottages, two mosques and eight bridges.

Senior officials, including Vice President Hamzah Haz, have said rampant illegal logging in the neighbouring Gunung Leuser national park helped cause the disaster.

Bahorok, 96 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Medan, is on the eastern fringes of the park. It is the home of a famed orangutan refuge, which is popular with tourists who also go trekking and white-water rafting in the area.

Environment minister Nabiel Makarim has branded illegal loggers as terrorists, saying floods and landslides triggered by deforestation are "just as dangerous as the consequences of a bomb."

Makarim criticised the army and police for their role in the practice, which is rampant across much of the huge archipelago.

TERRA.WIRE