West Sumatra quake death toll rises to 603

The number of death toll of the magnitude-7.6 earthquake which shattered Padang City of West Sumatra has until Sunday reached 603, West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi said.

The governor said here on Sunday that the number of dead victims continued to increase because evacuation teams had succeeded in lifting victims trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings of a hotel and a course center in Padang City.

He said that the highest number of dead victims was found in Padang Pariaman, Padang City and Agam areas.

In the meantime, the number of those still missing was recorded at 324 people, which were still under the search of the evacuating teams.

The earthquake also destroyed 21,732 units of houses, caused damage to 6,721 homes and minor damage to 9,572 others.

Houses destroyed were found in Padang City (150 units), Bukittinggi (180), Padang Panjang (160), Tanah Datar (24), Padang Pariaman (10,131), Agam (8,548), Dharmasraya (89), Pasaman (111), Pasaman Barat (1,012) and southern coastal areas (1,320).

A total of 200 units of damaged houses were found in Padang city, in Tanah Datar (440, Agam (2,796), Dharmasraya (105), Psaman Barat (730), and southern coastal areas (2,846).

Houses which were with minor damage accounted for 1,500 units in Padang city, 50 in Bukittinggi, 50 in Padang Panjang, 418 in Tanah Datar, 60 in Padang Pariaman, 2,389 in Agam, 141 in Dharmasraya, 93 in Pasaman, 1,156 in Pasaman Barat and 3,715 in southern coastal areas.