JAKARTA — President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stressed foreign assistance was not needed yet in handling the impacts of 7-magnitude earthquake that hit Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara on Sunday (Aug 5). However, he said everyone may provide aid to the people affected by the quake and its aftershocks.
“We are open to receive aid because people there need it, but we are also able to handle, such as in rebuilding houses that are damaged,” said Jokowi on Friday (Aug 10).
President promised to rehabilitate and reconstruct the destroyed buildings after the emergency response period is over. Jokowi asked his staffs to continue providing reports related to the latest developments in Lombok. He also planned to directly review the handling of the earthquake impacts. “I will go there because currently aftershocks still happen,” Jokowi added.
Meanwhile, the joint Search and Rescue Team (SAR) successfully evacuated and identified 386 earthquake victims in Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara. “Today, the joint SAR team also managed to evacuate a dead victim in Gili Trawangan, on behalf of Herianto (25), from Taliwang District, West Sumbawa Regency,” said SAR Mission Coordinator (SMC) I Nyoman Sidakarya, through written information received in Mataram, Friday night.
Previously, temporary data on the number of victims killed based on the results of the meeting at Tanjung Main Post, North Lombok Regency, until Thursday (9/8) at 8:00 pm, was 225 people. Sidakarya said the information on the discovery of the bodies of the West Sumbawa Regency residents had been reported to the Main Command Post in Tanjung, taking the total number of dead people to 386.
Hundreds of victims died in the earthquake that struck West Lombok Regency. In this area, there was also temporary data, which stated that as many as 672 people were seriously injured and 138 had minor injuries.
In North Lombok Regency, Sidakarya further stressed that temporary data revealed that the number of victims who died was 335, while 248 people were seriously injured and 103 people were slightly injured. In the city of Mataram, the death toll reached nine people, 10 people were seriously injured and 20 people were slightly injured, while in Central Lombok Regency there were two victims who died, two were seriously injured and 18 were slightly injured.
In East Lombok Regency, 10 people have also been identified, 46 people have been seriously injured and 95 people have minor injuries. “The total number of injured were 1,352 people, and the total casualties reached 386 people,” Sidakarya said.
The SAR team is still carrying out search and rescue operations with the main focus in Dompu Indah Hamlet, Kayangan District, and Jabbal Nur Mosque Lading-Lading Hamlet, Tanjung District. “The search for four people suspected of being buried under a landslide in Dompu Indah Hamlet has not yielded results, while the search in Lading-Lading Hamlet has been completed and no victims have been found in the ruins of the mosque,” Sidakarya said.
