Jayapura. The death toll from Wednesday’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Papua rose to seven over the weekend after five people buried in a landslide were added to the casualty list, with more than a dozen people still believed to be trapped under the debris.
“There are 13 people still missing in Yapen, and we are still trying to retrieve their bodies from under the landslide,” said Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
Priyadi said the landslide, which was triggered by the powerful earthquake, had come crashing down on a road on Yapen Island, south of Biak Island.
However, according to the head of the Ministry of Health’s Crisis Center, Mujiharto, there are 14 people still missing. “They are believed to have all been in the same vehicle,” he said.
Yapen district head Decky Menepat said the search for the missing people was continuing.
“We have not declared them dead and the [search and rescue] team is still looking for them,” he said, adding that search and rescue operations were also being conducted in other affected areas on the island.
Yapen, located north of the Papua mainland and nearest to the epicenter of Wednesday’s quake, suffered major damage. Nine villages on the island, which has a population of about 70,000, were reduced to rubble.
Two deaths were reported on Wednesday. Officials have identified the victims as Kamria, 47, and a 5-month-old baby.
Priyadi said the most severe damage occurred in Hamtimoi subdistrict, where 1,300 houses were left destroyed or heavily damaged. In total, he said, about 2,600 homes on the island were destroyed or severely damaged in the earthquake.
Helicopters are delivering aid from the BNPB to several remote areas of the island that were cut off in the quake.
“It is hard to send aid overland because the terrain is very difficult to cross,” Priyadi said.
Officials said they were also focusing efforts on Serui subdistrict, another hard-hit area, where a command post had been set up to assist victims.
“We are still monitoring developments in Serui,” said Ely Renmau, an assistant to Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu. “Food and medicine are ready to be sent.”