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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 8 august 2018
In quake-hit Indonesia, a challenge to recover the dead

By TODD PITMAN this rubble. We know how
TANJUNG, Indonesia (AP) hard his family is suffering."
— The rescue team had A few kilometers (miles)
done everything it could up the road, rescuers ear-
to locate the body of man, lier Tuesday pulled a single
who had been killed in- body from a pancaked pile
stantly when a massive of broken concrete and
earthquake collapsed his twisted rebar that once
home Sunday night on the held together the multistory
Indonesian island of Lom- Jabal Nur Mosque, whose
bok. green dome had shattered
They used hacksaws to cut and collapsed.
a square into concrete A 66-year-old village elder,
wall. They used crowbars Supardi, said a 6.4-magni-
and dogs and a power drill. tude quake that hit Lom-
But by Tuesday afternoon, bok a week earlier had
with the unmistakable caused countless cracks in
stench of rotting flesh in the the mosque's walls.
air, they were sweating and Those were going to be re-
at their wits' end. The body paired, he said, but people
of 60-year-old Abdul Malik, were just getting over the
one of at least 105 people first quake and more than
killed in the 7.0-magnitude Rescuers with sniffer dog search for victims at a mosque damaged by an earthquake in North half the village's 1,500 peo-
quake, would have to stay Lombok, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. ple were sleeping outside.
under the rubble for a third Associated Press Large earthquakes are of-
day. ten followed by less-pow-
"It's taking far too long," from three smaller islands could be seen camped by vivors. erful aftershocks. But "no-
said 50-year-old Masini, the off Lombok's coast so far, the thousands under make- Masini said his brother- body expected a stronger
victim's brother-in-law who Nugroho said. The islets are shift blue tarpaulins held to- in-law, Abdul Malik, who quake would occur in such
watched more than a doz- renowned for their crys- gether with bamboo and owned a small grocery a short amount of time,"
en helmeted emergency tal clear waters that draw sticks. Some held up simple store next to his home in said Supardi, who said he
workers in orange jump- snorkelers and divers from cardboard signs begging Tanjung, was sitting in his liv- was praying in the mosque
suits drill into a thick layer of all over the world. for aid as ambulances and ing room with family when when the tremor hit.
concrete. But with not enough boats other vehicles raced by. the catastrophe struck. Al- He described a roar that
The tragic scene under- to evacuate tourists quick- "We need food and water," though his family managed knocked out the electric-
scored the challenges ly and too few planes to said one. "Please donate," to make it out, Abdul Ma- ity and sent people fleeing
facing Indonesia's govern- fly them out of Lombok, said another. lik was crushed by a thick outside. "It destroyed ev-
ment as it struggles to deal many visitors were forced The international charity concrete wall. erything," he said.
with its latest natural disas- to wait for hours or camp Oxfam said drinking water The rescuers are work- Indonesia is prone to earth-
ter. The quake shattered on beaches and the floor was scarce because of a ing "too slow," Masini said. quakes because of its loca-
homes and lives across this of the international airport recent spell of extremely "They should be bringing in tion on the "Ring of Fire," an
vast archipelago, displac- in Mataram. dry weather in Lombok. heavy equipment to speed arc of volcanoes and fault
ing more than 84,000 peo- On the winding roads run- Food, medical supplies, this up." lines in the Pacific Basin. In
ple, according to disaster ning north from the airport, tarps and clothes are also Aprintinus Titus, from the Na- December 2004, a mas-
agency spokesman Sutopo which lead to destroyed urgently needed, it said. tional Search and Rescue sive magnitude 9.1 earth-
Purwo Nugroho. villages shadowed by tall By late Tuesday, the gov- Agency, acknowledged quake off Sumatra trig-
At least 4,600 foreign and palm trees, the disaster's ernment appeared to be they needed better tools. gered a tsunami that killed
Indonesian tourists also impact was evident. Vil- focused on finding bodies, But he said "we will not give 230,000 people in a dozen
have been evacuated lagers fearing aftershocks and wherever possible, sur- up until we pull him out of countries.q