AKIPRESS.COM - At least 281 people have died after a tsunami swept away hotels and hundreds of homes in Indonesia, Sky News reports.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 1,016 were injured after the tsunami hit the Sunda Strait on Saturday night.

The tally of missing is 57 but the numbers are expected to rise.

Among the people rescued was a five-year-old boy who had been trapped under rubble for hours north of Labuhan on the west coast of Java island.

The tsunami may have been caused by undersea landslides or those occurring above sea level on the Anak Krakatau volcano's steep slope after the eruption, according to scientists - including those from Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics agency.

Tourists were also affected as they looked forward to spending the festive season on holiday.