Five dead in massive Indonesian quake, say officials

JAKARTA – Five people died and at least seven were injured as massive earthquakes struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra island, officials said Thursday.

They said they believed at least two people died of heart attacks and three others died of shock.

“Based on data collected on victims and damage, five people died, one person is critically injured and six others had minor injuries,” National Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

All of the casualties were in Aceh province, where 170,000 people died in a 2004 tsunami, he said.

Nugroho said the critically injured victim was a child who fell from a tree during the quake in Aceh province Wednesday.

Communities in the most vulnerable areas on Sumatra island have gone back to their daily lives, Nugroho said.