Earthquake kills about 300 people in western Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A powerful earthquake that struck off Indonesia's western coast killed about 300 people on Nias Island, the local government said Tuesday. Police were pulling children's' bodies out of the rubble of collapsed houses.
About 70 percent of the houses and buildings in the market area in the town of Gunungsitoli collapsed from the quake that struck late Monday, said Sgt. Zulkifli Sirait from the local police station on the island located off Sumatra's western coast.
"It is possible that hundreds of people trapped in the collapsed buildings died,'' he said.
Agus Mendrofa, deputy district head on Nias island, told el-Shinta radio station that 296 people had perished in the massive 8.7-magnitude earthquake.
He said that figure was based on reports from humanitarian workers on the island.
Another police officer, who identified himself as Nainggolan, said rescuers were trying to pull people out of the rubble, and that many were still panicking because of several aftershocks.
"We are busy now trying to pull people or bodies of children from the collapsed building,'' said Nainggolan, who uses only one name. "It is very hard also because there is no power.''
"The situation here is really messy,'' he said. "Aftershocks keep hitting every half hour making thousands of people flee their homes and afraid to go home. That's all I can say. We don't know how many victims there are because it is still dark,'' Nainggolan said.
Nias, a renowned surfing spot, was badly hit by the Dec. 26 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that killed at least 174,000 people in 11 Indian Ocean nations. In that quake, at least 340 Nias residents perished and 10,000 were left homeless.
Indonesian officials said the epicenter of Monday's quake was located 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the island of Simeulue, off of Sumatra's western coast, and just north of Nias.
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