A six-year old boy was rescued from rubbles, two days after a magnitude-5.6 earthquake devastated a district in Indonesia’s West Java province, leaving at least 271 dead, a rescue official said on Wednesday.
The boy, named Azka, was found alive under the ruins of a house in the Nagrek village of Cianjur district on Wednesday morning, about 40 hours after Monday’s quake, said Aman Riyanto, a fireman who took part in the rescue.
“He was still breathing. Thank God he was safe and immediately received treatment,’’ Riyanto said.
Many of those killed in the disaster were children attending religious classes in Mosques after school, officials said.
The National Disaster Management Agency said the death toll rose to 271 after three more bodies were found on Wednesday.
The number of people listed as missing dropped to 40, from 151 a day earlier, said agency head, Suharyanto.
“Our focus is to find those still missing for the next three days,’’ he told newsmen.
More than 1,000 people were injured and 58,000 displaced after the quake, which unleashed landslides that buried homes and people alike, according to the agency.
More than 2,300 buildings and homes were damaged, with many reduced to rubble.
The quake struck at 1:21 pm (0621 GMT) with the epicentre 10 kilometres south-west of Cianjur, the National Meteorological, Geophysical and Climatological Agency said.
The quake caused high-rise buildings in Jakarta to sway, prompting residents and office workers to rush out in panic.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area noted for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. (dpa/NAN)
