3 villages in Indonesia's Padang to turn into mass graves

An Indonesian villager surveys the scene in an area severely hit by landslides following last Wednesday's earthquake in the Sumatran Island village of Jumanak, in Padang Pariaman on Sunday.

Indonesia’s West Sumatra provincial government will turn three villages in the valley of Gunung Tigo to be mass graves following a landslide triggered by a 7.6-Richter Scale earthquake that hit the area and buried about 300 villagers, the Kompas daily reported on Monday.

Meanwhile, the province’s Disaster Mitigation Squad said that in the fifth day after the earthquake, 605 people were confirmed dead.

“Three villages named Lubuk Laweh, Pulau Air and Cumanak will turn to mass graves. High cost for excavation would be more useful if it is donated to the survivors,” said Ade Edward, the squad’s leader.

According to Edward, the landslide areas will be closed and are not permitted to live on. “We don’t want our generation to be the next victims. So, the disaster areas will be closed. So there’s a proposal to turn them to mass graves,” he said.

Meanwhile, around 50 victims at Belakang Pondok village of West Padang sub district were still missing.

The earthquake rocked the province on Wednesday with Padang, Padang Pariaman and Pariaman were the hardest hit. Another earthquake jolted Jambi province on Thursday, killing one and injuring hundreds.