ISLAMABAD: Shahbaz Sharif has extended condolences to President Joko Widodo over the loss of precious lives and assets in a deadly earthquake jolting Indonesia, according to a statement issued by the prime minister’s office (PMO).
In a telephone conversation held with the Indonesian president late on Monday, the prime minister expressed solidarity with the people of Indonesia.
“The people of Pakistan could feel the anguish of their Indonesian brothers and sisters, having recently suffered immensely due to natural calamities,” the prime minister’s office statement quoted Sharif as saying.
Thanking the Indonesian president for the assistance provided by his government for the victims of floods in Pakistan, the prime minister offered to extend Pakistan’s support for relief efforts underway in Indonesia in the wake of the deadly earthquake, said the statement.
The earthquake killed at least 268 people, many of them children, with 151 still missing, disaster relief officials said, as rescuers continue to search the rubble of destroyed buildings for survivors.
The shallow 5.6-magnitude quake struck Indonesia’s most populous province on November 11, causing significant damage to the town of Cianjur, about 75 kilometres (45 miles) southeast of the capital, Jakarta, and burying at least one village under a landslide.
Disaster agency chief Suharyanto told reporters that more than 1,000 people had been injured, 58,000 displaced and 22,000 houses damaged.
