Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government will donate US$1 million for the victims of a powerful earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday, (April 25).

"We will donate US$1 million and send a SAR team to Nepal," Vice President Jusuf M. Kalla stated here on Monday.

The 7.9-magnitude quake, the worst to hit the nation in over eight decades, shook central, western, mid-western, and far-western parts of Nepal, leaving several hundreds injured and causing damage to property worth over billion US dollars.

The Nepali authorities noted on Sunday that more than 2,430 people had died in the country a day after a massive earthquake struck the impoverished Himalayan nation, Xinhua reported.

At least 1,152 people were killed in capital Kathmandu, and the number of injured nationwide climbed to 5.9 thousand, they announced, warning that the death toll would rise further as search and rescue efforts were hindered by damaged roads, ineffective communication lines, and landslides.

Some 34 Indonesians were in Nepal when the earthquake occurred, the Indonesian foreign ministry revealed.

Of the total, 17 people were contacted, while the whereabouts of 17 others were still unknown, the ministry remarked.



Editor: Ade P Marboen
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