It is a true “miracle”. A six-year-old boy named Azka was pulled alive from the rubble two days after an earthquake that killed at least 271 people in Indonesia, a rescuer said on Thursday. The rescue was filmed on Wednesday evening and has revived hopes for other survivors to be rescued from the ruins caused by the earthquake that shook the surroundings of the town of Cianjur, west of the Indonesian island of Java, on Monday.
“When we realized Azka was alive, everyone burst into tears, including me,” said volunteer rescuer Jeksen Kolibu. A video filmed by smartphone shows the rescuers getting out of the rubble unscathed the boy, who had been without water and food for two days. A rescuer, with a big smile, carries in his arms the boy dressed in a T-shirt and blue pants, while another runs behind to hold the child’s hand, in this video published by the district administration in Bogor, West Java.
Protected by a pillow
The young Azka is filmed afterwards drinking a drink through a straw, while a rescuer strokes his hair. He was found next to his grandmother’s lifeless body, Jeksen Kolibu added, saved by a wall that withstood the shaking, preventing another wall from collapsing on top of him, local media reported. “He was found on the left side of the house, on a bed. He was protected by a pillow and there was a space of 10 cm between him and a concrete wall, ”detailed Jeksen Kolibu. “It was a very narrow, dark, hot place and the opening didn’t let in a lot of air.” “We did not expect him to still be alive after 48 hours, otherwise we would have made more efforts the night before” to find him, he regrets.
More than a third of the victims of this earthquake are children, who were at school or at home when the earthquake occurred, according to data from the disaster management agency (BNPB). But time is running out to find more survivors as rain and aftershocks slow the search. “Today, the emergency services deployed 6,000 people. It’s raining but we keep looking,” said BNPB chief Suharyanto who, like many Indonesians, only has one name. The latest toll, announced Wednesday evening by the authorities, is 271 dead, 40 missing and more than 2,000 injured.