JAKARTA - INDONESIA'S main airport was closed on Friday as more than 40 flights were delayed and some forced to return after takeoff due to low visibility following torrential rains.

Several cars were stranded and people waded through nearly knee-high water as flood waters swamped roads and strong winds battered the city of 14 million, which is hit by the massive floods at this time almost every year.

'The runway is fine, it is not inundated by water but the rain and fog have blurred visibility. Visibility is less than 300 metres while it should be more than 500 metres,' said Mr Hariyanto, an official at Soekarno Hatta airport.

'The airport has been closed since 10am and 43 flights have been delayed. There are 12 flights from outside Jakarta that cannot land.'

There were no reports of deaths in Jakarta after flood waters rose to around 20cm to 50cm, but a health ministry official said four people were killed and thousands displaced from their homes after heavy rains in parts of Java and Sulawesi islands.

Indonesia is the middle of the rainy season when deadly landslides occur as tropical downpours can quickly soak hillsides stripped of trees with little vegetation to hold the soil.

A weather agency official said the rains were likely to continue until Saturday.

More than 10,000 houses in East Java's Pasuruan region were inundated by floods, forcing people to erect tents on streets, Mr Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis centre, said. -- REUTERS