Minister of Home Affairs to investigate deaths of earthquake survivors in NTT shelters
The Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian, has stated that he will follow up and directly confirm with the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Provincial Government regarding reports of dozens of earthquake survivors dying while staying in evacuation centres.
The Minister emphasised this during an interview following a ministerial-level meeting at the Ministry of Social Affairs office in Salemba, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
“I will cross-check with the local government first, to see where and what the causes are. Rather than making up answers, I will take this as input. I will ask the Governor,” said Tito, responding to the incident involving 42 earthquake evacuees in NTT who passed away during displacement.
The central government, Tito noted, has allocated additional unforeseen expenditure (BTT) funds amounting to IDR 20 billion for each of the seven affected regencies/cities, as well as IDR 40 billion for the NTT Provincial Government.
To this end, he reminded regional heads to optimise the use of these BTT funds promptly to meet the needs of health facilities and basic handling at evacuation sites.
“If there are issues due to inadequate treatment or substandard conditions, this will be part of the evaluation. I will certainly instruct the local government to utilise the available budget,” the former National Police Chief asserted.
As of the end of September 2026, a total of 108 survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck the Flores region, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), have reportedly died in evacuation centres. Latest data shows 108 lives lost due to the indirect impacts of the earthquake in shelters and posts.
Manggarai Regency recorded the highest number of deaths with 44, followed by East Manggarai (33 people) and Nagekeo (20 people).
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) noted that the accumulated fatalities from the earthquake tremors included those who died indirectly or after receiving medical treatment.
The victims were predominantly elderly people and children. According to local government reports, they suffered from respiratory tract diseases, such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, caused by extreme weather and dusty evacuation environments with inadequate sanitation.