Indonesia Farmer Pulled From Rubble 2 Days After Quake That Killed 100

Soldiers pulled a 37-year-old farmer from the rubble of his home Monday, two days after it crumbled in an earthquake that killed at least 100 people and seriously injured 673.

The farmer looked pale and haggard as rescuers carefully lifted him from the ruins. Dried blood caked the right side of his head and his mouth was agape.

“I heard people digging and hammering yesterday but was too weak to call out for help,” Bachtiar whispered to reporters before he was taken to a hospital.

Bachtiar, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, was the first person to be found alive in the rubble since the magnitude 7 earthquake struck this remote valley in the southwestern part of Sumatra island Saturday.

Shortly after the farmer was found, rescuers suspended their search for other survivors, saying torrential rains made operations dangerous.

Meanwhile, hundreds of refugees camped along roadsides and in open fields. Many shivered in the overnight chill rather than find shelter in those buildings left standing.

“We dare not go back to our home. We are afraid of the aftershocks,” said Salmi, a mother of three.

Two aftershocks shook the area Monday, as did five others on Sunday. A magnitude 5.3 earthquake rattled the north of the island late Sunday, 640 miles northwest of Sungaipenuh, which is near the epicenter of the Saturday quake.

About 10,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed in Saturday’s main shock. There was no immediate estimate of the financial loss.