CIANJUR, Indonesia, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Children killed when their faculties collapsed accounted for lots of the 162 dead in an earthquake that devastated a city on Indonesia’s predominant island of Java, an official mentioned on Tuesday, as rescuers raced to succeed in individuals trapped in rubble.

Hundreds of individuals had been injured in the Monday quake and officers warned the demise toll was more likely to rise.

The shallow 5.6-magnitude quake struck in mountains in Indonesia’s most populous province of West Java, inflicting important injury to the city of Cianjur and burying at least one village below a landslide.

Landslides and tough terrain had been hampering rescue efforts, mentioned Henri Alfiandi, head of National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).

“The challenge is the affected area is spread out … On top of that, the roads in these villages are damaged,” Alfiandi advised a information convention, including that greater than 13,000 individuals had been evacuated.

“Most of the casualties are children, because at 1 p.m. they were still at school,” he mentioned, referring to the time the quake hit.

Many of the fatalities resulted from individuals trapped below collapsed buildings, officers mentioned.

President Joko Widodo flew in to Cianjur on Tuesday to encourage rescuers.

“My instruction is to prioritise evacuating victims that are still trapped under rubble,” mentioned the president, who is named Jokowi.

He provided his condolences to the victims and pledged emergency authorities assist. Reconstruction ought to embrace earthquake-prone housing to guard towards future disasters, he mentioned.

Survivors gathered in a single day in a Cianjur hospital car parking zone. Some of the injured had been handled in tents, others had been hooked as much as intravenous drips on the pavement as medical employees stitched up sufferers below torch gentle.

“Everything collapsed beneath me and I was crushed beneath this child,” Cucu, a 48-year-old resident, advised Reuters.

“Two of my kids survived, I dug them up … Two others I brought here, and one is still missing,” she mentioned by means of tears.

Footage from Kompas TV confirmed individuals holding cardboard indicators asking for meals and shelter, with emergency provides seemingly but to succeed in them.

Hundreds of cops had been deployed to assist the rescue effort, Dedi Prasetyo, nationwide police spokesperson advised the Antara state information company.

“Today’s main task order for personnel is to focus on evacuating victims,” he mentioned.

‘SWEPT AWAY’

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil mentioned at least 162 individuals had been killed, lots of them youngsters, whereas the toll from the nationwide catastrophe company (BNPB) stood at 103, with 31 lacking.

Authorities had been working “under the assumption that the number of injured and death will rise”, the governor mentioned, with at least one village buried by landslides triggered by the quake.

Cianjur police chief advised Metro TV that 20 individuals had been evacuated from the district of Cugenang, most of whom had died, with residents reporting lacking members of the family.

The space was hit by a landslide triggered by the quake that had blocked entry to the world.

“At least six of my relatives are still unaccounted for, three adults and three children,” mentioned Zainuddin, a resident of Cugenang.

“If it was just an earthquake only the houses would collapse, but this is worse because of the landslide. In this residential area there were eight houses, all of the which were buried and swept away.”

Rescue efforts had been difficult by electrical energy outages in some areas, and greater than 100 aftershocks.

Straddling the so-called “Ring of Fire”, a extremely seismically energetic zone the place totally different plates on the earth’s crust meet, Indonesia has a historical past of devastating earthquakes.

In 2004, a 9.1 magnitude quake off Sumatra island in northern Indonesia triggered a tsunami that struck 14 international locations, killing 226,000 individuals.

Reporting by Tommy Adriansyah and Ajeng Dinar Ulfina in Cianjur; and Gayatri Suroyo, Ananda Teresia, Fransiska (*162*) and Bernadette Christina Munthe in Jakarta; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Ed Davies and Stephen Coates

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KYIV, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Ukrainians mark 31 years since they broke free from the Russia-dominated Soviet Union on Wednesday in what is definite to be a day of defiance towards the Kremlin’s six-month-old conflict to subdue the nation as soon as once more.

Ukraine’s Independence Day falls six months after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion and can be noticed with subdued celebrations underneath the specter of assault from land, air and sea.

Public gatherings are banned within the capital Kyiv and a curfew is in drive within the front-line jap metropolis of Kharkiv, which has weathered months of shelling.

The authorities laid out the hulks of burnt-out Russian tanks and armoured autos like conflict trophies in central Kyiv in a present of defiance. learn extra

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned of the opportunity of “repugnant Russian provocations”.

“We are fighting against the most terrible threat to our statehood and also at a time when we have achieved the greatest level of national unity,” Zelenskiy mentioned in a Tuesday night handle.

Ukraine’s army urged folks to take air raid warnings severely.

“Russian occupiers continue to carry out air and missile attacks on civilian objects on the territory of Ukraine. Do not ignore air raid signals,” the overall workers mentioned in a press release on Wednesday.

Zelenskiy informed representatives of about 60 nations and worldwide organisations attending a digital summit on Crimea on Tuesday that Ukraine would drive Russian forces out of the peninsular by any means obligatory, with out consulting different nations beforehand. learn extra

The conflict has killed hundreds of civilians, compelled over a 3rd of Ukraine’s 41 million folks from their houses, left cities in ruins and shaken world markets. It is essentially at a standstill with no quick prospect of peace talks.

In addition to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, Russian forces have expanded management to areas of the south together with the Black Sea and Sea of Azov coasts, and chunks of the jap Donbas area comprising the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk.

Ukraine’s armed forces have mentioned virtually 9,000 army personnel have been killed within the conflict.

Russia has not publicised its losses however U.S. intelligence estimates 15,000 killed in what Moscow calls a “special military operation” to “denazify” Ukraine. Kyiv says the invasion is an unprovoked act of imperial aggression.

Ukraine broke freed from the Soviet Union in August 1991 after a failed putsch in Moscow and an amazing majority of Ukrainians voted in a referendum to declare independence.

‘INTENSIVE’ TALKS ON PLANT

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi mentioned the U.N. nuclear watchdog hoped to achieve entry to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant in southern Ukraine inside days. learn extra

Both sides have accused the opposite of firing missiles and artillery dangerously near the plant, Europe’s greatest, elevating fears of a nuclear disaster.

“I’m continuing to consult very actively and intensively with all parties,” Grossi mentioned in a press release on Tuesday. “The mission is expected to take place within the next few days if ongoing negotiations succeed.”

Pro-Moscow forces took over the plant quickly after the invasion started however Ukrainian technicians are nonetheless working it. The United Nations has known as for the world to be demilitarised.

Russia on Tuesday accused Ukraine of attacking the plant with artillery, guided munitions and a drone, drawing a denial from Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya.

“Nobody who is at least conscious can imagine that Ukraine would target a nuclear power plant at tremendous risk of nuclear catastrophe and on its own territory,” Kyslytsya mentioned at an emergency U.N. Security Council assembly in New York known as by Russia.

Ukraine’s allies supplied extra army help on Wednesday.

Norway and Britain will collectively provide micro drones price as much as 90 million Norwegian crowns ($9.3 million) to assist with reconnaissance and goal identification, the Norwegian defence ministry mentioned.

The United States, which has despatched $10.6 billion in safety help to Ukraine, will announce a brand new bundle of about $3 billion as early as Wednesday, a U.S. official mentioned. learn extra

Advanced U.S. missile methods seem to have helped Ukraine strike deep behind the entrance traces in latest months, taking out ammunition dumps and command posts.

In the newest mysterious hearth at a Russian army facility, Russian officers mentioned ammunition saved in southern Russia close to the border with Ukraine spontaneously combusted on Tuesday.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod area, blamed scorching climate for the fireplace, drawing ridicule from Ukraine.

“In a few months we will find out whether Russian ammunition can explode because of the cold,” Ukraine’s defence ministry mentioned on Twitter.

“The five main causes of sudden explosions in Russia are: winter, spring, summer, autumn and smoking.”

Reporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Stephen Coates; Editing by Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.