WEST SUMATRA: The earthquake death toll in Pasaman District, West Sumatra, increased to five after the SAR team found one victim buried by landslides in Malampah, Tigo Nagari Sub-district, on Saturday.
“At around 2pm local time., the victim was found 1.4 km from the location point of the search, thus, the number of (dead) victims in Pasaman increased to five people,” the Padang National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Head, Asnedi, said in Lubuk Sikaping, West Sumatra.
The body buried by landslides was identified as a 32-year-old male, who recently was reported lost after the 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck the region on Friday.
“After being found, the victim’s body was immediately evacuated to the Ladang Panjang Health Centre,” Asnedi said.
According to Asnedi, as of Saturday, at least another five victims were still being sought by Basarnas and the joint Search and Rescue team.
“The combined search and rescue team is still searching for five other victims, who were reported missing at the landslide site,” he said.
Meanwhile, Basarnas has noted that the area affected by landslides in Malampah, Tigo Nagari Sub-district, reached 20 square kilometres.
Pasaman District Head Benny Utama also said that his party continued to carry out evacuations, handling, and post-earthquake data collection. According to Utama, thousands of residents have evacuated because their houses were impacted by the landslides.
Based on temporary data, the total number of dead in the districts of Pasaman and West Pasaman as of 4.30pm local time was nine, with five fatalities in Pasaman and four in West Pasaman.
Meanwhile, about 10,000 people in West Pasaman have evacuated post-earthquake. Two health centres, Kajai and Talamau, have been readied to serve evacuees who suffer injuries or are ILL.
