Lombok Earthquake, BPBD Responds to Conflicting Death Tolls

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - West Nusa Tenggara’s (NTB) Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Head Muhammad Rum provided an explanation upon the inconsistent data of Lombok earthquake’s death toll.

According to Rum, the BPBD recorded that the death toll amounts to 164 people; “It corroborates with the data team and information we received from the 162/WB Military Regional Command (Korem),” stated Rum in a text message Tempo received yesterday.

Rum asked for every data on the Lombok earthquake victims originate only from the Lombok Earthquake Disaster Emergency Command Post. “f there are irregularities, please contact us for further corrections,” said Rum.

Read also: Foreign Affairs Ministry Briefs Foreign Envoys on Lombok Quake

Previously reported, there were unsynchronized data on the number of deaths following the Lombok earthquake. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) stated that the death toll amounted to 131 people, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) suggested there are 381 deaths, the North Lombok regional administration stated 347 people died, while NTB Governor Zainul Majdi said 226 people perished.

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and the regions in its vicinity on Sunday, August 5. There have been 355 recorded aftershocks following the devastating earthquake.

ANTARA