Indonesia tallies death toll after West Java earthquake
Abdul Muhari, the agency’s national head, said in an interview on Tuesday that the official death toll stood at 103. While others – including Kamil – said the majority of victims were children, he is still too early to tell, Muhari said. More than 30 people in Cianjur were still missing on Tuesday and it will take days for officials to identify and verify who was lost in the quake, especially in more rural segments of the affected area, he said.
“We are waiting for the hospitals in Cianjur to send us the data they have on the sex and age of the victims,” Muhari said.
Located about 60 miles from the capital, Jakarta, the Cianjur region is home to about 2.2 million people. Monday’s earthquake, which reduced rows of buildings to rubble and briefly knocked out power to entire communities, could be Indonesia’s deadliest since 2018, when two disasters – a 7.5 magnitude earthquake followed by a tsunami – killed more than 2,000 people in the central island of Sulawesi.
Most of those killed in Monday’s incident died after being hit by collapsing debris, officials said. At least 13 schools were affected and more than 7,000 people were displaced from their homes, according to Muhari’s agency. Officials now need emergency supplies like tarpaulins, tents, medicine and drinking water, he said.
Tan brought from Singapore.
washingtonpost
