SOME 200 QUAKE VICTIMS HOSPITALIZED IN BANDUNG DISTRICT

Bandung, W Java, Sept 02 (ANTARA) - As many as 200 quake victims from Ciwidey and Pangalengan in Bandung district, West Java, have been taken to the Al Ihsan hospital in the district.

"According to data at the security section, up to 200 victims have been referred to the hospital until 7pm, including two who had died," a security officer at the hospital, Edi Harapa, told ANTARA on Wednesday.

He said most of the victims suffered bone fractures or head injuries.

The hospital had to set up makeshift tents on its compound to accommodate the quake victims who outnumbered the hospital's capacity.

He said because of fear for aftershocks, patients on the second and third floors of the hospital had all been moved to the ground floor.

"The emergency ward is full. Besides the ward on the ground floor, we have also set up tents to treat quake victims," he said.

Hasan Sadikin General Hospital in Bandung city meanwhile had so far received only three quake victims.

"We have so far only received three quake victims. Most of the victims have been taken to Al Ihsan Hospital," staff at the hospital's emergency ward, said.

The head of the Bandung district administration, H Obar Sobarna, said Ciwidey and Pengalengan in South Bandung had been the hardest hit by the quake.

"According to initial data from the Search and Rescue (SAR) Agency, almost all houses in the two regions were seriously damaged," he said.

The magnitude 7.3 quake had its epicenter 30 kilometer deep in the Indian Ocean, 142 kilometers southwest of Tasikmalaya, 190 kilometers from capital city Jakara.

The powerful quake was strongly felt in Jakarta. Employees at high-rise buildings in the city fled out of the buildings after the quake for fear of aftershocks.

Several people had also been reported killed in several other districts in West Java. ***3***