Search and rescue teams were scouring rubble for survivors, with 843 people injured and 28 missing.
A
volcano-triggered
tsunami has left at least 222 people dead and hundreds more
injured after slamming without warning into beaches around
Indonesia's Sunda Strait, officials said on Sunday, voicing fears
that the toll would rise further.
Hundreds
of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit the coast of
southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9:30 pm (2000 IST)
on Saturday after a volcano known as the "child" of
Krakatoa erupted, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo
Nugroho said.
Search
and rescue teams were scouring rubble for survivors, with 843 people
injured and 28 missing, Nugroho said.
In
September an earthquake hit the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia,
triggering a tsunami. The two natural disasters devastated the region
and had killed 2,000 people.
Tsunamis
triggered by volcanic eruptions are relatively rare, caused by the
sudden displacement of water or "slope failure", according
to the International Tsunami Information Centre.
Unlike
those caused by earthquakes, which trigger alert systems, they give
authorities very little time to warn residents of the impending
threat.
Kathy
Mueller from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies said the toll was likely to rise.
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