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World|life|August 7, 2018 / 11:30 AM
Lombok quake: Rescuers search collapsed mosque for survivors

AKIPRESS.COM - Rescue workers are searching the ruins of a mosque in Lombok, Indonesia, where it is feared people were trapped by Sunday's deadly earthquake, BBC reports.

The 6.9 magnitude quake is now known to have killed nearly 100 people and left at least 20,000 people homeless.

The mosque is one of thousands of buildings in North Lombok that were damaged.

Two have already been rescued from the rubble, according to the national search and rescue agency.

The spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency shared footage of one man being brought out from under the collapsed building.

The impact of Sunday's quake has been far greater than a quake that hit Lombok last week, killing 16 people.

The official death toll now stands at 98, but officials believe that may rise. Most of the victims were killed by falling debris.

Aid agencies have said their priority now is to provide shelter for displaced people, with aftershocks continuing to rattle the area.

In Lombok's main city of Mataram, medical staff there have been struggling to cope with the injured in damaged hospitals. They have resorted to treating people in the open air.

Phillipa Hodge was at the Katamaran Hotel just north of Mataram when the quake hit. She told the BBC the lights went out and the scene "became chaotic".

"People were falling over each other trying to get out, and glass was shattering. We felt debris fall on to us.

"I couldn't see my partner and I was shouting his name. Finally we found each other and he had blood all over his face and shirt."

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