Employee rescued from rubble after hospital collapsed in Majene earthquake (Video)

Rescuers have saved a victim who was buried under the ruins of a hospital destroyed by Friday’s earthquake in West Sulawesi, with video of the mission widely circulating online.

As of Tuesday morning, at least 88 people have died in the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Majene and Mamuju regencies. Rescue teams focused their efforts to find victims who were trapped under rubble in the area, including at the site where the Mitra Manakarra Hospital in Mamuju once stood.

Almost the entire hospital building had collapsed and flattened to the ground, with eight people reportedly trapped beneath it as they didn’t manage to escape during the quake. The victims consisted of two nurses, one pharmacy employee, four patients, and a baby inside an incubator.

As seen in clips of the rescue operation, the team was able to pull out the pharmacy employee after deploying a bulldozer to dig into the hospital ruins. The victim, who was still clad in her purple uniform, survived after being buried beneath the rubble for nine hours. She also told rescuers that some of her friends were still trapped beneath the rubble as she was stretchered away. 

Infonya; perawat Rumah sakit Mitra Manakarra ini, ditemukan selamat setelah 4 hari terjebak dlm reruntuhan paca gempa Mamuju Sulbar. Maha Kuasa Allah… pic.twitter.com/m5BQhb6ur3

— Uceng (@husainabdullah1) January 19, 2021

A member of the rescue team previously said that the lack of heavy equipment made their mission more difficult. The team also deployed dogs to locate victims under the hospital ruins. 

Another hospital in the province, Mamuju General Hospital, was also partially destroyed in the quake. Authorities say only two other hospitals are able to treat patients for now, and that medical workers from outside West Sulawesi have arrived to help treat the earthquake victims, including those from Dr. Soeharso Hospital Ship, operated by the Indonesian Navy.

The Social Affairs Ministry has built refugee tents at the Manakarra Stadion in Mamuju, which now serves as a center for all those displaced by the earthquake.