North Lombok, W Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - Search and rescue officers here on Tuesday continued to seek five missing people following a deadly earthquake that so far killed 436 people on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara Province.

Of the five missing victims, four were in Dompu Indah village in Kayangan sub-district, and one in Rempek village, Gangga sub-district, North Lombok District, I Nyoman Sidakarya, SAR Mission Coordinator, said.

Two joint teams led respectively by commanders Kurais and Tius, and comprising military, police and civilian personnel, were deployed to the two villages for search and rescue operations.

Heavy equipment was also deployed to support the operations.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the magnigute-7 earthquake that hit Lombok on Aug 5, increased to 436 on Monday, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a press release that the highest number of the victims was found in the district of North Lombok, totaling 374.

A total of 37 victims were found in West Lombok, 12 in East Lombok, nine in Mataram city, two in Central Lombok, and two in Denpasar, Bali.

"Most of them died after being hit by rubble from collapsed buildings or buried under landslides. Evacuation efforts are still ongoing," he remarked.

Sutopo said the number of injured was recorded at 1,354, of which 783 were seriously injured.

Aid supplies continued to being distributed to the affected regions, and the biggest obstacle for it was access, as many roads had been damaged.

To overcome the hurdles, three helicopters respectively from BNPB, the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have been deployed to transport supplies to isolated locations.

Lombok has been jolted by three major earthquakes respectively on July 29, Aug 5 and Aug 9, as well as by at least 451 aftershocks since Aug 5.

Reporting by Awaludin
Editing by Fardah Assegaf

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2018