Hundreds remain missing – At least 2,200 homes destroyed – Several students among the dead
For hours, Aris stared at the digger trying to make a way through piles of dirt in Java, Indonesia, hoping to find some trace of his loved ones missing after the 5.6-magnitude earthquake destroyed their home.
It took the 45-year-old hours to walk to the Sugenag area where his relatives lived by the time disaster struck on Monday. The death toll from the earthquake in Indonesia’s most populous province, West Java, it is 268according to officials.
“When I got there, there was nothing left. Everything was buried”Aris stated, pointing to a huge pile of brown dirt where his brother’s house had been.
The tremor with a shallow focal depth that struck a mountainous area early yesterday afternoon (local time) caused a landslide, which authorities say resulted in at least one village being buried under tons of soil.
“I’m here because I have to find my family, my bride. He was buried under the landslide. There were three of them: the mother and two children,” said Aris. According to him, his brother is also missing.
Indonesia earthquake kills at least 162 people and injures hundreds https://t.co/tFszApcOnQ pic.twitter.com/uwSU7GT8OE
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 21, 2022
More than 24 hours after the quake, rescue workers are racing against time to pull victims from the rubble of buildings and clear the landslide-hit area, with officials saying more than 150 people are missing.
Search and rescue efforts were complicated by power outages and damaged roads over a large area, they said, with victims crowding a hospital parking lot to receive help.
Over 13,000 people were displaced from their homes and at least 2,200 houses were destroyed, according to the authorities.
Aumentan a 162 los muertos tras el terremoto en #Indonesia
The authorities also report hundreds of missing persons due to the earthquake that destroyed the main island of the country. The earthquake destroyed homes and infrastructures and caused strong landslides.#DWNoticias /jam pic.twitter.com/UZcQgR4EyQ
— DW Español (@dw_espanol) November 21, 2022
Located on the so-called Ring of Fire, a particularly active seismic zone, Indonesia has a long history of devastating earthquakes.
Aris, for his part, began to accept his loss. “We leave it to God,” he declared. “What matters is that we tried. Now we just have to let them go.”
Many students dead
Many of the dead and injured were children, rescuers say. Aprizal Mulyadi, 14, was at school when the quake struck, saying he was trapped after “the hall collapsed and my feet were buried under the rubble.”
He said, according to the BBC, that his friend Zulfikar helped him protect himself, but his friend was trapped as he was eventually trapped.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
