Woman rescued from rubble of deadly quake on Indonesia's Lombok
PEMENANG, Indonesia (Reuters/AP) - A woman was pulled alive from a collapsed building on Indonesia’s tourist island of Lombok on Tuesday, two days after a powerful earthquake that killed dozens, destroyed villages and left thousands of people homeless.
Rescue workers were also digging under the rubble of a mosque in the north of the island shattered by Sunday’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake, hopeful that at least one of four people trapped inside was still alive.
Nadia Revanale, 23, was shopping in a minimart in Pemenang at the time of the tremor, the second major quake to rock the island in a week. Neighbors heard cries for help from the mangled concrete and alerted rescuers, who took four hours to extract her.
“First we used our hands to clear the debris, then hammers, chisels and machines to slowly remove the pieces,” Marcos Eric, a volunteer rescue worker from a mining company, told Reuters after an ambulance had taken the woman away. “It took many hours but we’re thankful it worked and this person was found alive.”
It was a rare moment of joy since the earthquake struck, killing at least 98 people, including two on the neighboring island of Bali to the west.
Thousands left homeless by a powerful quake that ruptured roads and flattened buildings on the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok sheltered Monday night in makeshift tents as authorities said rescuers hadn’t yet reached all devastated areas and expect the toll of 98 dead to climb. More than 230 people were seriously injured.
It was the second deadly quake in a week to hit Lombok, a less-developed island compared with its more famous neighbor Bali, where the strong tremors caused panic and damaged buildings.
Damage was “massive” in mountainous northern Lombok, where the quake was centered, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. In several districts, more than half the homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
A large mosque collapsed on worshippers in northern Lombok’s Lading-Lading village, and rescuers used a backhoe to search the debris. The number of victims was unknown.
Some areas still hadn’t been reached 24 hours after the quake because of collapsed bridges, blocked and ruptured roads and the loss of power and communications.