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An injured girl is treated after the earthquake in Java
Photo: IMAGO/Mas Agung Wilis / IMAGO/NurPhoto
According to the authorities, at least 268 people died in the devastating earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java - including many children.
"They were at school, at 1 p.m. they still had classes," said the head of the Indonesian rescue agency in Basarnas, Henri Alfiandi.
Alfiandi did not provide any specific information on how many children were killed or injured.
However, according to preliminary official data cited by Save the Children Indonesia, 51 educational institutions are said to have been affected by the earthquake, including 30 primary schools, 12 secondary schools, one high school, five vocational schools and one special school.
"The challenge is that the affected area is large," Alfiandi said.
In addition, the roads in the villages are damaged.
The 5.6 magnitude earthquake caused destruction on Monday, particularly in the city of Cianjur.
The epicenter was near the city in West Java province, according to the US Earthquake Monitor (USGS).
Numerous people were killed by collapsing buildings, but also by landslides.
According to the civil protection agency BNPB, at least 151 people are still missing.
More than a thousand were injured in the accident.
"I have to keep going," says a helper
Rescue workers continued to search for survivors in the affected areas on Tuesday.
Debris on the streets made work difficult.
In parts of the predominantly rural, mountainous region, the electricity was also out.
Teams were using chainsaws and excavators to clear debris and fallen trees to get to the victims, 34-year-old Dimas Reviansyah of rescue workers told AFP.
“I haven't slept since yesterday.
But I have to continue because some victims have not yet been found.« At the same time, the first victims were buried by their relatives on Tuesday.
Dozens of aftershocks shake the city
Many survivors spent the night outdoors surrounded by rubble, broken glass and chunks of concrete.
Injured people were treated in makeshift infirmaries.
The situation was made worse by a wave of 62 smaller aftershocks of magnitudes 1.8 to 4 in the 175,000-resident city of Cianjur, as reported by AFP.
Nunung, 37, managed to free herself and her 12-year-old son from the rubble of their home.
“I had to dig us out.
There is nothing left, there is nothing I can save,” she told AFP at a shelter in Ciherang village, near Cianjur.
President Joko Widodo traveled to the scene of the accident on Tuesday and promised compensation to those affected.
World leaders expressed their condolences to the victims.
Because of Indonesia's location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common in the Southeast Asian country.
The 9.1 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Sumatra on December 26, 2004 lingers in horrific memories.
The resulting tsunami killed 220,000 people across the region, 170,000 of them in Indonesia alone.
kko/AFP