Indonesian authorities on Thursday deployed heavy machinery, helicopters and thousands of workers in a desperate attempt to find dozens trapped in rubble by an earthquake that killed 271 as hopes of survivors faded.

Some were pulled alive from the pile of twisted metal and concrete during dramatic rescue operations in the west Java town of Cianjur, including a six-year-old boy who spent two days under the rubble without food or water.

Officials said around 40 people are still missing and believed to be trapped, including a seven-year-old girl, as rescue efforts were delayed by torrential rain and aftershocks.

But the rescue of little boy Azka, captured alive on video, gave relatives and rescuers a sense of optimism.

“When we found out that Azka was alive, everyone broke down in tears, including me,” local volunteer Jeksen Kolibu, 28, told AFP on Thursday.

“It was very moving, it felt like a miracle.”

In the worst-hit Cugenang district on Thursday, scores of rescue workers drilled through large concrete slabs and removed roof tiles at a ruined house where they believed a young girl was buried while her distraught mother looked on.

Seven-year-old Cika’s parents gave rescuers locations for the tricky rescue mission because they believed she was playing outside the house when the quake struck.

“She was playing outside, I was cooking in the kitchen, suddenly the earthquake happened, so fast, just two seconds, my house collapsed,” her mother Imas Masfahitah, 34, told local news agency AFP.

“My instinct tells me she’s here because she loved playing here,” she added, referring to the girl’s grandmother’s home across from the family home where the search is focused.

“Whatever happens, I’ll try to accept it.”

Sastra Winata, a firefighter involved in the rescue, said workers feared she “ran and got buried, we found some buried bikes here”.

The death toll from Monday’s earthquake is expected to continue rising, with 2,000 people injured, some seriously, and at least two villages still cut off from isolation.

Officials cited reports that villagers in the two hamlets had no way of calling for help.

Thousands of rescue workers used excavators to clear blocked roads to gain access to villages and used helicopters to drop vital aid to those still trapped there.

The rescue operation is expected to continue beyond the 72-hour window – considered the best time to find living victims.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo revisited Cianjur on Thursday and said 39 people are missing in Cugenang district alone.

“This afternoon we will focus on that spot,” he told reporters.

National Disaster Management Board (BNPB) chief Suharyanto said bad weather hampered rescue efforts the previous day.

“It rained, but we keep looking. Please pray for us so that the 40 missing can be found,” he said on Wednesday.

More than 22,000 homes were damaged, leaving many homeless in the city without adequate supplies.

Some put up signs asking for help, while others held boxes to ask for donations after losing everything.

Another fear for displaced residents and officials is a second disaster.

Indonesia is prone to landslides and flash floods during the rainy season, which has already begun and will peak in West Java in December.

Indonesia’s meteorological agency said rivers could be blocked by landslides or debris, triggering flash floods in Cianjur.

Indonesia is subject to frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide.

Monday’s quake was the deadliest in the archipelago since a 2018 quake and resulting tsunami that killed more than 4,000 people on the island of Sulawesi.