The death toll from the earthquake that struck the Indonesian island of Java on Monday rose to 321, the national disaster management agency said on Sunday.
This shallow 5.6 magnitude earthquake caused extensive damage in West Java. After an initial death toll of around 270, the death toll continued to rise each day as rescuers discovered new bodies under the rubble of buildings that had collapsed or been swallowed by landslides.
“After the discovery of eight more bodies on Saturday and three today, we are now at 321 dead,” the head of the disaster management agency, Suharyanto, who, like many Indonesians, does not have a single name, said Sunday night. .
Eleven people are still missing, and the search will continue Monday to try to find them.
The quake destroyed or damaged more than 60,000 homes and 73,000 displaced people are now housed in more than 300 shelters, it added.
Situated on the Pacific “ring of fire” where tectonic plates meet, Indonesia is regularly faced with earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
This earthquake is the deadliest in Indonesia since 2018, when the Palu region (Celebes Island) was hit by an earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 4,000 people.
Source: BFM TV
