Following strong aftershocks Thursday the death toll on Indonesian island Lombok has crossed three hundred triggering panic among traumatized survivors who are still waiting for appropriate aid.
Sunday’s 6.9-magnitude earthquake damaged tens of thousands of buildings across the island Lombok and the aid agencies have just starting to reach. Indonesia’s chief security minister Wiranto said 319 people have been reported death since then.
The authorities had earlier said around 1,400 people were injured in the strong earthquake and at least 150,000 were displaced. Amid shortage of clean water and food some makeshift medical facilities have been set up.
Since Sunday the survivors have faced hundreds of aftershocks and today’s was as strong as 5.9-magnitude. It triggered panic and people started fleeing evacuation shelters screaming and crying.
A witness said the quake was so strong that they felt their car in the traffic was hit from behind and people were seen running out of their cars in different directions.
Meanwhile, it is learned the quake-damaged roads have slowed down the reach of aid agencies to some of the most isolated regions on the mountains of Lombok. Survivors are now seen standing on the streets and asking for food and donation.
Two mosques collapsed in the northern part of the island and workers are seen searching the rubble with heavy machinery to look for survivors. Three bodies have so far been pulled out and one man alive too.
It is learned the villages are now turned into virtual ghost towns. Earlier the same villages were popular tourist destinations.
