Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) announced that it suffered a tremendous loss in the passing of its senior spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, who died of lung cancer while being treated at an hospital in Guangzhou, China, on early Sunday.

The BNPB received the sad news from Sutopo's wife and his son's Twitter account, the agency's public relations division revealed in its press statement that ANTARA received here on Sunday.

Sutopo who was confirmed by doctors to get lung cancer in December 2017 passed away at around 02:20 a.m. Guangzhou's time or 01:20 a.m. Jakarta's time after being treated at the Chinese city's St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital since June 15.

The cancer that he suffered had spread to his body's bones and several other vital internal organs. However, despite his serious illness, Sutopo remained committed to his professional work as the agency's spokesperson.

Amid his ongoing endeavor to receive medical treatment, he still held regular press briefings to update information on the impact and mitigation efforts of such catastrophic disasters as the Lombok and Palu earthquakes and tsunamis, BNPB said.

"We all suffer a tremendous loss in the passing of Mr.Sutopo. May the Almighty, Allah Subhana Wa Taala accepts his good deeds, and enable the mourning families to cope with this loss and grief patiently," the BNPB said. (ANTARA)