Indonesia: 222 dead, more than 800 injured after Anak Krakatoa sparks ‘volcano tsunami’
- Tsunami thought to have been triggered by undersea landslides caused by eruption
Rescuers were yesterday scouring coastlines around Indonesia’s Sunda Strait after a tsunami hit without warning, leaving hundreds dead, missing and injured.
The wave smashed southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java at 9.27pm on Saturday after Anak Krakatoa erupted about half an hour earlier, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
The death toll had climbed to 222 last night but dozens were missing and more than 800 people were injured.
Kathy Mueller, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the toll was likely to rise as conditions became clearer.
“The situation and the death toll will remain fluid over the next days and even weeks,” she said.
Aid workers were helping the injured, taking in clean water and tarpaulins to provide shelter, she said, adding that the group was already preparing for the possibility of diseases breaking out.
