Five South Africans caught up in deadly Indonesia earthquake are safe: Dirco

Five South Africans who were in Indonesia when an earthquake killed at 105 people are safe.

“All five have been accounted for and are safe‚” Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya said Tuesday.

“The Department is in contact with the South African Embassy in Jakarta‚ Indonesia‚ in order to provide consular assistance to the South African citizens should it be required.”

AFP reported that the shallow 6.9-magnitude quake killed at least 105 people and destroyed thousands of buildings in Lombok on Sunday‚ just days after another deadly tremor surged through the holiday island and killed 17. 

Terrified holidaymakers rushed for boats and planes to leave Indonesia’s Lombok island on Tuesday after it suffered a second deadly quake‚ as rescuers scrambled to reach remote areas where survivors are in urgent need of food and shelter.

Rescuers on Tuesday resumed the desperate search for survivors‚ and to recover the bodies of victims in the rubble of houses‚ mosques and schools destroyed in the latest disaster.

More than 20‚000 people are believed to have been made homeless on Lombok‚ with 236 severely injured‚ and authorities have appealed for more medical personnel and basic supplies.