Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami: Malaysian students safe

By Mohd Shukri Ishak

JAKARTA, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- All Malaysian students in Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi are reported safe following the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Central Sulawesi province and triggered a tsunami in Palu beach yesterday evening.

Education Malaysia attache in Indonesia Mohd Mubarak Shamsuddin said there were 286 Malaysian students currently pursuing education at Universitas Hasanuddin and two others at Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu dan Bahasa in Makassar, South Sulawesi, and none of them was near the location of the earthquake in the bay city of Palu and Donggala yesterday.

“All of them are reported safe. The distance between the earthquake location and Makassar is about 700km.

“In fact, no Malaysian was reported to be in the area as the the bay city is not really a major tourist destination,” he told Bernama here.

The Malaysian Embassy in Indonesia is working closely with the local authorities to get more information about the disaster.

It was reported that the death toll from the powerful earthquake and tsunami had jumped to almost 400, with thousands of houses and buildings destroyed.

Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) head of data information and public relations, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho in a statement today said electricity and communication network in central Sulawesi were also severed.

“This makes the effort to collect data and information on the effects of the earthquake and tsunami difficult,” he said.

-- BERNAMA