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More than 500 senderistas, mostly foreigners, and their companions were evacuated from an Indonesian volcano where they had been trapped by a violent earthquake on the island of Lombok, and Some explained that they had lived in distress
The magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Sunday morning and its many aftershocks caused the release of tons of stones and mud, blocking tourists on the roads of Mount Rinjani, a volcano 3,726 meters high whose trails attract many tourists.
About 800 hikers were on the mountain at the time of the earthquake and 560 of them were stranded Sunday night. Among the tourists were Americans, Germans, Spaniards, French, Dutch and Thais according to the authorities.
Almost all of these 560 people managed to get off Monday night and "everything is fine," spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said at the AFP
that the last three carriers and a guide were to arrive Tuesday night at the foot of the mountain, added Agus Hendra. Sanjaya, spokesman for the search and rescue agency in Mataram, main city of Lombok Island
The earthquake killed at least 17 people, including an Indonesian hiker, and more than 220 injured. Hundreds of houses were destroyed and moments of panic were experienced when tourists rushed out of hotels on this tourist island.
– "It was pretty scary" –
Most walkers and their guides went down According to authorities, at least three people arrived by helicopter to Sembulun, a village located at the foot of Mount Rinjani.
A Thai tourist said Tuesday that she was sleeping when the earthquake began.
"I felt the earth move and I thought" what's wrong? " I got up and saw a slip of land that was dragging rocks "he said. A friend of this hiker, also Thai, recounted his anguish: "The whole mountain, the stones fell, I was afraid."
An Australian tourist explained that the earth began to shake about 20 minutes after his group reached the top of Mo Rinjani. "The earthquake lasted or between 10 and 20 seconds, then everyone rushed down the descent" he said.
"On the way home, there was another earthquake everyone was pretty scary."
Relief operations were coming to an end on Tuesday. " We searched the area, there are more hikers," says Sanjaya.
– Tired but unharmed –
The descent of stranded walkers began on Monday after the guides found alternative road that was not affected by landslides.
"Everyone was tired, but in good health and well n examined by our medical teams on the spot as soon as the arrival ", told AFP Gusti Lanang Wiswananda, search and rescue service. .
As a result of the earthquake, 7,593 people are housed in temporary shelters and need drinking water, according to official figures.
Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo, who made a brief visit Monday in the affected areas, pledged financial aid to the residents who lost their homes in the disaster.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands and islets, is located in what is known as the Pacific "fire belt", an area of high seismic activity. Although the country has many earthquakes, most are not dangerous.
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