Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, sent on Sunday cables of condolences to Indonesia over the victims of the weekend’s tsunami, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
In his cable to President Joko Widodo, King Salman wished the injured a speedy recovery, expressing his sympathy with the victims.
At least 281 people were killed, hundreds injured and many buildings were heavily damaged when the tsunami struck, almost without warning, along the rim of the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra islands, late on Saturday.
A large chunk of a flank of the volcanic Anak Krakatau island slipped into the ocean and triggered the tsunami, officials and scientists said Monday.
Anak Krakatau had been spewing ash and lava for months before a 64-hectare (0.64 square km) section of the southwest side of the volcano collapsed, an Indonesian official said.
"This caused an underwater landslide and eventually caused the tsunami," said Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the meteorological agency, adding that the waves hit shorelines 24 minutes later.
