Children Were Buried Alive for Days in Indonesia Earthquake

Liputan6.com, Cianjur - Children were found under rubbles in the aftermath of the earthquake in Cianjur. One of them is a seven-year-old boy who was found after being buried for three days under his home. 

The boy named Rafka was found around 10 AM on Wednesday (23/11/2022) in his village in Cianjur. The police confirmed that the boy was buried for three days and still alive. 

"It is true that the victim was found alive after being buried for three days," said Ibrahim Tompo, spokesperson of West Java Regional Police. 

"The victim was immediately transferred to the hospital for medical treatment," he remarked. 

A volunteer said the team heard a movement under the rubble of the boy's home. 

"When being brought up, the boy was still able to communicate, however his condition was weary," said a volunteer named Muslihat (37).

It was not immediately clear how the condition of the boy's family. 

Rafka is not the only one. In the same village, a four-year-old boy was also found alive after being buried for three days under his home. He has already reunited with his uncle, although the boy's mother did not survive.

In another case, a two-year-old was found under the rubbles for 48 hours.

As of Wednesday, the search and rescue team is still trying to find people who got buried in the rubbles.  President Joko Widodo already  asked to prioritize the evacuation, especially those who were buried because of the landslides. 

The Head of National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure (BNPB) Lt. General Suharyanto said that there are 271 people died because of the Cianjur earthquake as of Wednesday evening.

All of the 271 victims were from Cianjur.

Suharyanto said that 40 people disappeared. 39 of them are from Cigenang district, another one in Warungkondang district.

However, Suharyanto is still trying to investigate the data because there is a possibility that some family members already buried their family without reporting to the authorities.

2,043 people were reportedly injured by the earthquake. The number of refugees is already reaching 61 thousands.

56,320 houses were damaged. Among them, 22,241 houses severely damaged, 11,641 moderately damaged, and other 22,090 homes lightly damaged.

BNPB is also still trying to do verification for the damaged homes.

Achmad Sudarno and Muhammad Radityo Priyasmoro contributed to this report.