No fewer than 34 persons have been found after an earthquake has shook Indonesia’s Sulawesi island toppling homes and buildings, triggering landslides.
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More than 600 people were injured during the magnitude 6.2 quake, which sent people fleeing their homes in the darkness.
Authorities were still collecting information about the full scale of casualties and damage in the affected areas.
Thousands of displaced people were evacuated to temporary shelters.
The quake was centered 36 kilometers (22 miles) south of West Sulawesi province’s Mamuju district, at a depth of 18 kilometers (11 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The Indonesian disaster agency said the death toll climbed to 34 as rescuers in Mamuju retrieved 26 bodies trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. The agency said in a statement that eight people were killed and 637 others were injured in Mamuju’s neighboring district of Majene.
Rescuer Saidar Rahmanjaya said a lack of heavy equipment was hampering the operation to clear the rubble.
He said his team was working to save 20 people trapped in eight buildings, including in the governor’s office, a hospital and hotels. AFP
