Putin Offers Condolences to Indonesian President Over Deadly Tsunami

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences on Sunday to his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, over the deadly tsunami that hit the country's western coast.

The tsunami, which was triggered by a volcano eruption, struck the Indonesian coast at 9:27 p.m. local time [14:27 GMT] on Saturday. According to the latest data, 168 people have been killed as a result of the disaster, while 745 others sustained injuries and yet another 30 went missing.

"Mr. President, please accept my deepest condolences over the tragic consequences of the tsunami that hit the shores of the Sunda Strait," Putin said in a telegram.

A representative of the Russian Embassy in Jakarta, Denis Tetyushin, told Sputnik that there was no information at the moment about Russian citizens being among the victims.

"There is no information about Russian citizens at the moment. We have sent a request and are waiting for official data from the authorities ... No lists of the victims and the injured have been published yet," Tetyushin said, adding that the region hit by the tsunami was not very popular with Russian tourists.

Indonesia is located in a seismically active zone known as the Ring of Fire and regularly suffers from powerful earthquakes.