The Indonesian emergency teams They worked against the clock on Thursday to find survivors after the earthquake that left 272 dead, after extricating a man alive. six year old boy caught two days in the rubble.
The “miraculous” rescue was caught on camera on Wednesday night and revived the Hopes of finding more survivors among the ruins caused by the tremor that devastated the city of Cianjur, in West Java.
Also read: Strong earthquake in Indonesia of magnitude of 5.6 leaves at least 162 dead.
This Thursday, about forty people were still missing, including a girl that rescuers were trying to find. Six-year-old Azka survived without water or food. “Once we realized that Azka was alive, everyone burst into tears, including me,” Jeksen, a 28-year-old local volunteer, told AFP on Thursday. “He was very emotional, it was experienced as a miracle,” he added.
Emergency teams know that, 72 hours after the earthquake, there is very little chance of finding survivors. Video of the rescue, released by the Bogor district administration in West Java, shows rescuers pulling Azka out of a destroyed house in Cugenang district, the hardest hit in the city.
The man who rescued him from a hole in the rubble hugged the boy, while another rescuer in an orange jumpsuit ran after him holding the boy’s hand. Azka is then seen calmly having a drink in the arms of a soldier, with an emergency worker stroking his hair.
The minor, protected by a pillow
His mother’s body had been found dead hours earlier, a volunteer told AFP on Thursday. Along with the little boy, they found the body of his grandmother, Jeksen said. The boy was saved thanks to a wall that supported another collapsed wall and prevented it from falling on him, local media reported.
He was found on the left side of the house, on the bed. He was protected by a pillow
“He was found on the left side of the house, on the bed. He was protected by a pillow and there was a 10-centimeter gap between him and the concrete wall,” Jeksen explained. Many of the quake victims were children trapped in their schools or in their homes, authorities said.
The death toll rose to 272 on Thursday, after finding the lifeless body of a 64-year-old man. But time is running out to find more people alive and rescue efforts are hampered by heavy rain and the threat of deadly aftershocks. “Today we have deployed 6,000 people for the search and rescue operation. It is raining but we are still searching,” said the head of the national disaster management agency, Suharyanto, who has only one name like many Indonesians.
“Please pray for us so that the 40 missing people can be found,” he said. In Cugenang district, rescuers were trying to make their way through the concrete slabs of a dilapidated building to find Cika, a seven-year-old girl.
The immediacy of the tragedy
in two seconds, my house collapsed
I was playing outside, I was preparing food in the kitchen when the earthquake hit. Very quickly, in two seconds, my house collapsed,” his mother, Imas Masfahitah, 34, told AFP. “My instinct tells me it’s there, because he liked to play there,” he said, pointing to his grandmother’s house. , where lifeguards are working.
“Whatever it is, I’ll try to accept it,” he lamented. Some 2,000 people were injured by the strong tremor of a magnitude of 5.6. Two towns are still isolated by blocked roads. Indonesian President Joko Widodo was at the scene of the tragedy for the second time on Thursday.
In the town of Cugenang, 39 people are still missing, he told reporters. More than 61,000 people were displaced after the earthquake. The government provides food aid and tents, but hospitals are overwhelmed.
In the midst of the disaster, three babies have been born under the tents sheltering the displaced, reported the governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil.
One of the newborns was named “Gempita,” a name inspired by the Indonesian term for “earthquake,” according to a video posted Wednesday. Situated in the Pacific “ring of fire” where tectonic plates meet, Indonesia is regularly faced with earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
AFP.
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