TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The death toll of Lombok earthquake increased to 259 people. It is almost doubled from the previous data, which was 131 people.
“The number of death toll due to the earthquake that shook NTB (West Nusa Tenggara) and Bali was 259 people,” said Head of Information and Public Relations Data of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, on Thursday, August 9.
Sutopo said the dead victims were scattered in several cities and districts. The most came from North Lombok with 212 people, followed by West Lombok with 26 people, Mataram City 6 people, East Lombok 11 people, Central Lombok 2 people, and Denpasar City 2 people.
Read: 6.2 Magnitude Quake Hits Lombok Again
Sutopo said the 259 people were the verified victims. The data will continue to increase as the SAR team still finds the victims in the wrecked buildings and still have not been identified.
“Allegedly the victims are still under the ruins of buildings that have not been evacuated,” he said.
Besides the casualties, the Lombok earthquake also injured 1,033 people and 270,168 people were evacuated. “The number of evacuees is also temporary because not all them have been recorded,” said Sutopo.
Previously, a magnitude 7 earthquake hit Lombok, NTB on Sunday, 5 August, at 06:46 local time. The shaking was felt up to Bali and East Nusa Tenggara. BNPB noted that the most severely affected areas are North Lombok, East Lombok, and Mataram City.
M ROSSENO AJI
