The death toll has reached 2,091 in Saturday morning's powerful earthquake in Yogyakarta province and parts of Central Java, Indonesia, local police said.
"According to data registered by Yogyakarta police, there were 1,240 people killed in Bantul, south of Yogyakarta and one of the most serious area. Besides, there were 101 people killed in Poltabes area, 55 people killed in Polres Sleman, and 21 people in Polres Gunungkidul," a police spokesman Bambang Sampurna Jati was quoted by Antara news agency as saying earlier when the number was 1424.
Sampurna said, at the movement the police is imposing Yogyakarta as warning status I and calling on the society to help each other to overcome the disaster.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia's ancient royal capital and one of its biggest cities, is about 440 km south-east of the capital, Jakarta.
The death toll rose steadily as hospitals around Yogyakarta reported a growing number of fatalities.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari and Social Affairs Minister Bakhtiar Chamsyah to go to Yogyakarta immediately to deliver relief aid and coordinate help for victims of earthquake which hitthe city and its environs on Saturday morning.
"The President is deeply concerned and asked Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono X to continuously report on quake's victims and damages to the Head of State," a presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng told the press at the presidential office on Saturday.
Andi said that the President also ordered Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto to send soldiers to the quake-hit cities to help evacuate victims.
President Yudhoyono asked residents of Yogyakarta to remain calm amid rumors on tsunami following the quake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale.
The quake's epicenter was located at 8.826 degrees south latitude and 110.23 degrees east longitude, at the depth of 33 kilometers below the sea level, about 37.6 kilometers of south of Yogyakarta.
Telecommunication network and electricity supply in Yogyakarta were cut off due to the earthquake, which could be felt at the fifth level of Modified Marcelli Intensity (MMI).
All flights to and from Adi Sucipto Airport in Yogyakarta were suspended following damage to the airport's facilities, Antara reported from Yogyajakarta.
(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2006)
