Hunt for buried survivors continues after Indonesia quake kills 162

Cianjur, Indonesia — AFP

Rescuers were still searching for survivors buried under rubble after an earthquake on Indonesia’s main island of Java killed 162 people, injured hundreds and left more feared trapped in collapsed buildings.
As bodybags emerged from collapsed buildings in Indonesia’s most populous province, rescue efforts turned to any survivors still under debris in areas made hard to reach by the mass of obstacles thrown onto the roads by the quake.
The epicentre of the shallow 5.6-magnitude quake on Monday was near the town Cianjur in West Java where most of the victims were killed as buildings collapsed and landslides were triggered.
One of the dozens of rescuers, 34-year-old Dimas Reviansyah, said teams were using chainsaws and excavators to break through piles of felled trees and debris to reach areas where civilians were believed trapped.
“I haven’t slept at all since yesterday, but I must keep going because there are victims who have not been found,” he said.
President Joko Widodo visited the area on Tuesday, offering compensation for victims and ordering disaster and rescue agencies to “mobilise their personnel” to prioritise the evacuation of victims.
“On behalf of myself, on behalf of the government, I would like to express my deepest condolences,” he said.
Some of the dead were students at an Islamic boarding school while others were killed in their homes when roofs and walls caved in on them.
“The room collapsed and my legs were buried under the rubble. It all happened so fast,” 14-year-old student Aprizal Mulyadi recounted.