4 000 buried by Indonesia quake
Jakarta - Up to 4 000 people are still trapped in rubble following the devastating 7.6-magnitude quake that struck Indonesia this week, the UN and Red Cross told AFP on Saturday.
"We estimate about 3 000 to 4 000 people are still trapped or buried under the rubble," UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Indonesia El-Mostafa Benlamlih told AFP.
Landslides buried at least 3 Indonesian villages, authorities say (LA Times)
Reporting from Padang, Indonesia, and New Delhi, India -- Indonesian authorities said today at least three villages at some distance from the city of Padang, the port city hardest hit by Wednesday's massive earthquake, were wiped out by landslides, suggesting the disaster will claim significantly more lives than the 715 to date.
At least 640 people died in Paranan Bananak, Pulau Air and Lubuk Lawe, a cluster of villages some 35 miles from Padang, said Jufnedi, a local police commissioner who only uses one name.
"The mud came off the hills and now there are almost no survivors," said Zul Waddi, a local secretary in Padang Pariaman, the district that encompasses the villages. "All I feel is sadness and pity."
Waddi said it's likely that many of the villagers were celebrating after fasting during Ramadan.
One resident who escaped the mayhem and asked not to be identified said there was now a stream of mud running from the collapsed hillside into the river below, obliterating what had once been three vibrant communities.
Trees were upended, with bits of foliage sticking out of the mud along with partly submerged roofs and wooden debris, he said. A local mosque was crushed, toppling the minaret.
Survivors, their families and search crews, some clawing by hand through 30 feet of mud, struggled to find loved ones and belongings as bodies were laid out in the nearby village of Lubuk Lowe, he added.
400 buried alive at wedding party in Indonesia quake
(Xinhua)
PADANG: The powerful 7.6 magnitude quake that hit West Sumatra province on Wednesday evening had sunken three villages in the province, where 400 people in one of the sunken villages were buried alive when they were attending a wedding party, Indonesian crisis center official said here on Saturday.
