HEALTH MINISTRY: 15 KILLED IN W JAVA QUAKE

Jakarta, Sept 2 (ANTARA) - The health ministry said 15 people had been found killed until 7.30pm following a powerful quake that hit West Java at around 3pm on Wednesday while 112 others had been wounded.

"The total deaths in West Java is 15 spreading in Cibinong-Cianjur (5), Banjar (6) and Garut (4)," Rustam S Pakaya, the head of the ministry's crisis control center, said.

He said 83 people had been injured in West Java and 29 in capital city Jakarta after the quake that had its epicenter at a location 30 kilometer deep in the Indian Ocean, 142 kilometer southwest of Tasikmalaya or 190 kilometers from Jakarta.

He said 16 of the wounded in Jakarta were now being treated at Jakarta Hospital, nine at Metropolitan Medical Center and four at Pertamina Hospital.

"Several buildings and houses have been reported collapsed," he said.

Rustam said the health ministry and the health service in Bandung had sent medical and logistical supplies to areas affected by the quake.

"The aid from the health ministry and a health team from Bandung are now on the way to the locations," he said.

Five people meanwhile have reported to have been killed after the quake in Tasikmalaya and 200 people had been taken to the Al Ihsan hospital in Bandung.

The hospital had to set up makeshift tents on the hospital compound to accomodate the patients. The second and third floor of the hospital had been emptied of patients for fear of possible aftershocks. ***3***