REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU  -- The number of people killed in the earthquake that struck Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, last Sunday continued to rise. The figure has increased to 321, said an official of the national disaster management agency.

"There were also victims who had not previously been reported and victims who were successfully evacuated," said the Head of Data Center, Information and Public Relations of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, through a written message received in Pekanbaru, Friday.

Nugroho said 321 deceased people had been verified. Additional reports regarding the number of deaths were still in the process of being verified.

"This means the number of dead people exceeded 321, but it still needed to be verified," he explained.

Nugroho said the highest number of victims were from North Lombok District, reaching 273 people. Other victims came from West Lombok (26), East Lombok (11), Mataram City (seven), Central Lombok (two) and Denpasar City (two).

The number of refugees due to the earthquake reached 270,168 people, scattered across thousands of places. The number of refugees is also expected to increase because not all of them have been properly recorded.

Also read: Another major quake rocks Lombok

"In some places, there are still refugees who have not received assistance, especially in the Gangga, Kayangan and Pemenang sub-districts in remote hills and villages," he said.

To provide assistance to refugees in the region, since Thursday (Aug 9), the distribution of aid was being carried out with three helicopters from BNPB and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).

"Assistance via land continues to be distributed. It even involves many volunteers from the community of car lovers and the community, which has vehicles to help with the distribution of aid. Many public kitchens and health posts have also been established to serve the refugees," he explained.

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