Indonesia earthquake: Many school children among 268 killed in West Java

Many children killed when their schools collapsed are among the 268 dead following an earthquake that devastated a town in Indonesia, officials have said.

More than 1,000 people were injured and 58,000 displaced, with the authorities warning the death toll was likely to rise further.

At least 151 people remain missing.

Rescuers are still trying to reach people trapped in the rubble after the 5.6-magnitude quake struck in mountains in West Java on Monday, causing significant damage to the town of Cianjur and burying at least one village under a landslide.

Landslides and rough terrain were hampering rescue efforts, said Henri Alfiandi, head of National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).

Excavators, trucks and other heavy equipment were sent overnight to the hardest-hit city of Cianjur, south of Jakarta.

Blocked roads and damaged bridges prevented rescuers from bringing excavators, and heavy equipment needed to move concrete rubble, to the rural area to help dig out survivors until Tuesday.

West Java’s governor Ridwan Kamil said on Monday: “The majority of those who died were children.”

He added that many were public school students who had finished their regular classes and were taking extra lessons at Islamic schools.

The earthquake hit the Cianjur region in West Java province at a depth of 6.2 miles, according to the US Geological Survey.

Twenty-five aftershocks were recorded in two hours after the quake, according to the weather and geophysics agency BMKG.