Death toll from Cianjur earthquake rises to 271, 40 people still missing

Death toll from Cianjur earthquake also includes dead victims who have been buried by their families, but they have not been confirmed yet whether or not they are among the 271 dead victims, because the bodies that have been buried were not reported to health centers or hospitals.    

 

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Head of Indonesia’s National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure (BNPB), Suharyanto, reported that the death toll from Cianjur earthquake rose to 271 and 40 people are still missing as of Wednesday afternoon.

“Later there may be more casualties in addition to the 271 dead victims. We will see there might be more casualties from those who have been buried by their families,” Suharyanto told a press conference in Cianjur district, West Java province, on Wednesday.

Death toll from Cianjur earthquake also includes dead victims who have been buried by their families, but they have not been confirmed yet whether or not they are among the 271 dead victims, because the bodies that have been buried were not reported to health centers or hospitals.

“So the 271 dead victims have been confirmed at health centers or hospitals throughout Cianjur district. Of the 271, 37 percent were children,” he said.

“Tomorrow morning we will bring all the village heads together to record again whether the buried bodies have been reported with their names and addresses or not. The 271 dead victims have been identified with their names and addresses,” he said

Suhayanto also disclosed that the number of injured victims increased to 2,043 people, the evacuees became 61,908, the damaged houses were now 56,320, consisting of 22,241 heavily damaged, 11,641 moderately damaged, and 22,090 slightly damaged.

The BNPB head added that the damaged infrastructures consisted of 31 schools, 124 places of worship, three health facilities and 13 office buildings.

“The affected sub-districts now become 15, namely Cianjur, Karang Tengah, Warung Kondang, Cilaku, Gebrong, Cugenang, Cibeber, Sukaluyu, Sukaresmi, Pacet, Bojong Picung, Cikalong Kulon, Cimande, Cipanas and Haur Wangi,” he said.

According to Suhariyanto, the process of searching for victims continues by deploying 6,000 people.

“Logistics is distributed to 14 points as the main evacuation sites, in the hope that progress would be getting better every day, in terms of places to stay, tents, public kitchens, toilets, and other sanitation facilities,” he added.

Residents who are still living in emergency tents around their damaged houses would be advised to shift to the main evacuation sites that have been prepared.

In an effort to deal with the Cianjur earthquake, BNPB has received 2,904 volunteers from 193 volunteer organizations to help search, rescue, evacuate victims, distribute logistics, collect data on residents’ houses and damaged infrastructures.

Suharyanto explained, the volunteers are under the coordination of the earthquake handling task force in Cianjur, with BNPB serving as the commanding agency.

Reporting by Indonesia Window