The Disaster in Indonesia: Many Children Died in the Awful Earthquake

The death toll from the earthquake that struck Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday has risen to 268, and many of the dead are schoolchildren, officials have said as rescuers raced against time to find survivors.

The quake, centred in the Cianjur region of West Java province, struck at a shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10km), triggering landslides and damaging buildings, including tens of thousands of homes and dozens of schools.

“They were at school, at 1pm, they were still studying,” Alfiandi said at a press conference. Some of those dead were students at an Islamic boarding school. “The challenge is the affected area is spread out … On top of that, the roads in these villages are damaged,” he said.

Provisional data released by the authorities and cited by Save the Children said about 51 education sites were affected, including 30 elementary schools, 12 junior high schools, one high school, five vocational schools and one special school.

At a local hospital, overwhelmed by the number of patients, the injured lay on the floor on mattresses and blankets, or under makeshift tents. On Monday night, victims were treated in the dark, under torchlight, due to widespread power cuts.

“Everything collapsed beneath me and I was crushed beneath this child,” Cucu, a 48-year-old resident, told Reuters from the crowded hospital parking area. “Two of my kids survived, I dug them up … Two others I brought here, and one is still missing,” she said through tears.