A man collects clothings from his damaged house following an earthquake in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. --Photo AP

162 dead as Indonesia quake topples homes, buildings, roads

CIANJUR, Indonesia (AP) -- Rescuers searched for bodies and survivors Tuesday in the rubble of buildings that collapsed in an earthquake that killed at least 162 people on Indonesia’s main island of Java and injured hundreds more, overwhelming hospitals.
Excavators, trucks and other heavy equipment sent overnight reached the hardest-hit city of Cianjur, south of Jakarta. The city, in the country’s most densely populated province of West Java, was near the epicentre of magnitude 5.6 temblor Monday afternoon, which sent terrified residents fleeing into the streets, some covered in blood and debris.
One woman told The Associated Press when the earthquake hit her home in Cianjur, the building started “shaking like it was dancing.”
“I was crying and immediately grabbed my husband and children,” said the woman, who gave her name only as Partinem. The house collapsed shortly after she escaped with her family.
“If I didn’t pull them out we might have also been victims,” she said, gazing over the pile of concrete and timber rubble.
In addition to those killed, authorities reported more than 300 people were seriously hurt and at least 600 more suffered minor injuries. It was not immediately clear how many remain missing.
In the village of Cijedil, northwest of Cianjur, the quake triggered a landslide that blocked streets and buried several houses, and there were reports that 25 people were still buried, said Henri Alfiandi, the chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency.
“We are maximising operations at several points where it is suspected that there are still casualties. Our team is also trying to reach remote areas,” he said. “For us, all victims are a priority, our goal is to find them and save lives by getting them evacuated as soon as possible and get medical help.”
With hospitals already overwhelmed, patients lay on stretchers and cots in tents set up outside, with intravenous drips in their arms as they awaited further treatment.
Many of the dead were public school students who had finished their classes for the day and were taking extra lessons at Islamic schools when the buildings collapsed, West Java Gov. Ridwan Kamil said.
Initial rescue attempts were hampered by damaged roads and bridges and power blackouts, and a lack of heavy equipment to help move the heavy concrete rubble. By Tuesday, power supplies and phone communications had begun to improve.
Operations were focused on about a dozen locations in Cianjur, where people are still believed trapped, said Endra Atmawidjaja, the public works and housing spokesperson.
“We are racing against time to rescue people,” Atmawidjaja said, adding that seven excavators and 10 large trucks had been deployed from neighboring Bandung and Bogor cities to continue clearing trees and soil that blocked roads.
Cargo trucks carrying food, tents, blankets and other supplies from Jakarta were arriving early Tuesday in temporary shelters. Still, thousands spent the night in the open fearing aftershocks.

(Latest Update November 23, 2022)