Lombok Quake Death Toll Likely To Rise

By Mohd Shukri Ishak JAKARTA, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- The death toll from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia’s tourist island of Lombok last Sunday, has risen to 105 Tuesday. According to Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), the death toll was likely to rise further as the search and rescue (SAR) operations in the badly hit areas were still ongoing. BNPB Head of Information Data and Public Relations Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said as of 4 pm Tuesday, 78 deaths were recorded in North Lombok, 16 in West Lombok, two in Central Lombok, three in East Lombok, four in Kota Mataram and two in Bali province. “The SAR teams are still trying to locate and rescue the victims believed to be alive but trapped under collapsed houses or buildings. So far, losses was estimated at over Rp 1 trillion,” he said. Meanwhile, Malaysian Embassy in Indonesia in a statement today said they they had identified 179 Malaysian citizens currently in the island. “They are all reported safe and in the midst of getting a flight home,” the statement said, adding that Malaysian Embassy’s officials had also been deployed to Bali and Lombok to provide necessary consular assistance. Those who need consular assistance can contact phone number +62215224947 and WhatsApp at +62 81380813036 or email to mwjakarta@kln.gov.my /jkonsular@gmail.com. The Indonesian authorities had also provided hotlines for assistance, namely the Foreign Visitor Helpdesk at +6287864124151 and the NTB Tourism Crisis Center: +6281285360608 or +6281221702739. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry, in a statement said the local authorities were in the midst of evacuating foreign tourists from a small Gili Island in Lombok to a safer ground in Bangsal. “The number of foreign tourists stranded in Gili Island after the Sunday quake was around 2,000, but more than 1,800 had been evacuated to Bangsal as of this afternoon,” the statement said. -- BERNAMA