Sunshine and clouds mixed. High near 70F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph..
Tonight
Partly cloudy this evening then becoming windy with rain developing after midnight. Low 59F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Rescuers carry a body bag with a victim through the rubble of collapsed buildings during a rescue operation after an earthquake hit in Cianjur, West Java province, Indonesia.
CIANJUR, Indonesia (AP) — Enjot was tending his cows in the hills near his home when the earth shook.
The 5.6 magnitude earthquake killed more than 265 people, including 11 of Enjot's family members. His sister-in-law and her two children were hurt, among the hundreds injured in Monday's quake.
Now, Enjot is visiting his hospitalized loved ones and trying to rebuild his shattered life, one of thousands of Indonesians reeling from the disaster.
"My life has suddenly changed," said Enjot, 45, who goes by one name like many Indonesians. "I have to live with it from now on."
The epicenter of the quake was just south of Enjot's hometown, Cianjur. After getting a call from his daughter, Enjot hopped aboard his motorbike and raced home, arriving within a few minutes to see his neighborhood flattened.
"Men, women and children cried while people who were trapped in the collapsed houses were screaming for help," he recalled. "I saw terrible devastation and heart-rending scenes."
His sister-in-law and her children, who were visiting from a nearby village, were among the more fortunate. Others heard their screams from the rubble and pulled them out.
The woman and children suffered severe head injuries and broken bones and are being treated in a hospital overwhelmed by the number of casualties.
According to the government's National Disaster Agency, as of Tuesday evening more than 265 people were killed, with hundreds missing and injured, almost all in and around Cianjur. The toll was expected to rise.
Like many other villagers, Enjot desperately dug through debris looking for survivors, and managed to rescue several. But blocked roads and damaged bridges meant that authorities weren't able to bring in the heavy machinery needed to remove larger slabs of concrete and other rubble.
Recommended for you
Throughout the day, relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull mud-caked bodies from the destroyed buildings, including one of Enjot's nephews.
Not far from Enjot's home, an aftershock triggered a landslide that crashed onto the house of one of his relatives and buried seven people inside. Four were rescued, but two nephews and a cousin were killed, he said.
In a neighboring village, his sister, a cousin and six other relatives were killed when their homes collapsed, Enjot said.
Faced with such a sudden loss of life, and left without a place to live, Enjot is wondering what comes next.
He's with thousands living in tents or other temporary shelters set up by volunteers, barely enough to protect them from monsoon downpours.
"The situation is worse than appears on television," Enjot said. "We are starving, thirsty and cold without adequate tents and clothes, while no access to clean water."
"All that's left," he said, "is the clothes I've been wearing since yesterday."
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.