Rescue workers were racing on Tuesday to reach people trapped in rubble a day after an earthquake devastated Cianjur regency, West Java, killing at least 62 people and injuring hundreds, as officials warned the death toll may rise.
escue workers were racing on Tuesday to reach people still trapped in rubble a day after an earthquake devastated Cianjur regency, West Java, killing at least 62 people and injuring hundreds, as officials warned the death toll may rise.
The epicenter of the shallow 5.6-magnitude quake hit land close to Cianjur. The tremor on Monday afternoon prompted panicked residents to flee onto the streets as buildings collapsed.
Nurjanah, 70, was about to perform a prayer when the quake struck at her home in Cibeureum, Cugenang district, Cianjur.
“There was a rumbling and suddenly my house collapsed, flat to the ground. I couldn’t scream, my hand was pinned under a fallen wall,” she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Nurjanah suffered injuries on her head and a broken left arm. She currently seeks refuge at one of her children's homes in Ciawi, Bogor regency, West Java – about 100 kilometers west of Cianjur.
Overnight, the parking lot of Cimacan Hospital in Cianjur was inundated with victims, some treated in makeshift tents, others hooked up to intravenous drips on the pavement, while medical workers stitched up patients under the light of torches.
Rizky Utama, one of the medical workers at the hospital, said as of Tuesday morning, the hospital had handled a total of 237 victims, with 13 among them dead.
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