3 Filipino missionaries in Indonesia safe after quake – DFA

Residents gather as they wait for Indonesian rescue team search for survivors at a collapsed building in Palu, Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi on October 2, 2018. AFP 

Three Filipino missionaries on an island in Indonesia were reported safe after a magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit the area on Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Leehiong T. Wee reported to DFA that the Embassy immediately got in touch with the Filipino missionaries on Flores island after the disaster and all three affirmed they were safe.

According to the DFA, Wee said there were no immediate tsunami alerts or reports of casualties on the island, which was located more than 2,000 kilometers from Jakarta.

Wee added that the Embassy was continually monitoring the situation in Flores as well as the ongoing search and rescue efforts in Central Sulawesi, which was struck by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake and tsunami last Friday.

The lone Filipino in Central Sulawesi, who was a detainee at Lapas Penitentiary in Palu City, was reported missing after the quake-tsunami hit the area. /cbb

READ: Filipino inmate in tsunami-hit Indonesia town now missing — consul