Indonesian quake toll reaches 97 as more bodies found
THE death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck western Indonesia yesterday has nearly doubled to 97, the military said, as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of scores of shattered buildings.
The shallow 6.5-magnitude quake struck Aceh province’s Pidie Jaya district at dawn as many in the mainly Muslim region of Sumatra were preparing for morning prayers.
The death toll has steadily climbed as rescue crews search, often by hand, through homes, mosques and shops reduced to ruins.
The earlier figure of 52 dead was revised up significantly by the Indonesian military, which has taken over responsibility for search and rescue.
“So far, 97 people have been killed and the number keeps growing,” Aceh military chief Tatang Sulaiman said.
“When we retrieve bodies, sometimes there are five, sometimes 10 corpses.”
More than 1 000 soldiers and about 900 police had been sent to the worst-hit areas to set up shelters and evacuation points, he said.
Hundreds of houses and shops had been levelled by the quake, leaving countless people homeless and in need of basic supplies like food and water.
“The electricity is still off. Some places have generators, but there are not many,” disaster agency head Puteh Manaf said. “If it rains there will be disease.”
Pidie Jaya’s one hospital was quickly overwhelmed.
District health office chief Said Abdullah said nearly 200 injured had arrived since the quake, but many would not enter the hospital for fear of aftershocks.
“We are treating people outside. We took the beds out because nobody dares enter the hospital,” he said.
In Meureudu, terrified residents rushed outside as their homes buckled and crumbled.
Hasbi Jaya, who pulled his two children unconscious from the rubble of their home, said: “Everything was destroyed.”