Herman Suherman, the head of Cianjur Regency near the epicenter of the disaster, said Monday evening that 56 people had died and 700 people had been injured following the quake,

Which is believed to be the deadliest one this year in Indonesia, an earthquake-prone country.

Which is believed to be the deadliest one this year in Indonesia, an earthquake-prone country.

He added that numbers were likely to rise as more people were found under the rubble.

He added that numbers were likely to rise as more people were found under the rubble.

“The majority who died were hit by buildings. Some were hit on the head,” he said. “All you can hear here is ambulance sirens everywhere.”

Local television footage showed scenes of chaos as crowds of injured people, some bandaged and bleeding, rushed to local hospitals and clinics for treatment.

Some were transported in ambulances but others, including young children, were brought in on motorcycles or carried in by relatives, eyewitnesses said.

Patients at Cianjur Hospital, some on stretchers, had to be evacuated outside for fear that the building could collapse.

Some members of the crowd ran inside to retrieve tables and other equipment to carry the injured to safe locations, locals said.