Many of those killed and injured in a major earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java were children, rescuers say, as the death toll soars to 268.
Aprizal Mulyadi, a 14-year-old student, was at school when the earthquake struck, and he claimed that “the room collapsed and my legs were buried under the rubble” left him trapped.He claimed that his friend Zulfikar helped him escape, but he later passed away after becoming trapped himself.According to officials, more than 1,000 people were injured.The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) added that 151 people remain missing in its most recent announcements on Tuesday.In addition, it stated that over 58,000 people had sought refuge in multiple locations throughout the region and that 22,000 homes had been damaged.The 5.6 greatness shake struck a rugged locale on Monday, causing avalanches that covered whole towns close to the West Java town of Cianjur.Walls and roofs caved in, crushing or trapping victims.Everything happened so quickly, “April told the AFP news agency.Additionally, a National Search and Rescue Agency representative confirmed that many of the deceased were youths.Henri Alfiandi stated, “The majority of the casualties are children because they were still at school at noon.”Dozens of aftershocks followed the earthquake, which occurred at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers, or six miles. These aftershocks caused additional damage as poorly constructed homes collapsed.A family was attempting to recover the body of their eldest son, a 28-year-old man who had been crushed when the other floors of the house fell on top of him, in the Cibereum village.The rubble was difficult to sort out for rescuers.On Tuesday, President Joko Widodo paid a visit to the remote disaster zone and was pictured with responders.He stated, “My directive is to prioritize evacuating victims who are still trapped under rubble.”The rescue effort involves hundreds of police and other rescuers.Mr. Jokowi promised the affected communities compensation.Indonesia experiences a lot of earthquakes because it is on the Pacific “ring of fire” of tectonic activity.The nation has a background marked by wrecking quakes and tidal waves, with in excess of 2,000 individuals killed in a 2018 tremor on the island of Sulawesi.