Mount Merapi Eruption Causes 424 Permanent Defects

Mount Merapi Eruption Causes 424 Permanent Defects - At least 424 people are permanently harmed by the recent Mount Merapi eruptions' hot ashes. Executive Director of the Indonesian National Board for Social Welfare (DNIKS) Parni Hadi said here Sunday that the figure was for those who were newly affected by the disaster's after-effects.

Mount Merapi spews volcanic material as seen from Cangkringan, Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 26, 2010.

The permanent defects were experienced by both residents in Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces. Among them were paralyzed and blind with full body burns and psychiatric disability. Parni said that the figure was apart from Mount Merapi's eruption victims in the provinces.

"There is a possibility that some disabled people are also caught in the eruption aftermath. We are collecting their numbers," he said. During Mount Merapi's eruptions, some disabled people might be the victims as they did not have time to escape, Parni said. "These disabled people cannot escape, unlike normal people," the former ANTARA News Agency president and editor-in-chief said. Therefore his institution would publish a handbook for the survivors, including the disabled. This recommendation was expected to draw more attentions to the disabled in the disaster zones, he said. ( antara )