Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov 22: The number of fatalities from an earthquake on Java, the largest island in Indonesia, increased to 268 on Tuesday as rescuers looked for survivors among the debris and family members began to bury their loved ones.
Rescue attempts focused on any survivors still under debris in regions very difficult to reach by the abundance of barriers pushed onto the highways by the earthquake as body bags emerged from collapsed buildings in West Java, the province with the highest population in Indonesia.
The shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake that occurred on Monday was centred close to the village of Cianjur, where the majority of the fatalities, injuries, and possible trapped victims occurred.
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Later on Tuesday, Suharyanto, the chief of Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency, or BNPB, announced during a press conference that the dead toll had increased substantially once more from 162 to 268.
The official, who goes by one name like many Indonesians, stated that more than 1,000 people had been hurt and at least 151 people are still missing.
“The focus is still on the search and evacuation of victims. That’s the priority,” he said.
