The number of people killed in the Indonesia earthquake and tsunami disaster has risen to 1,234.
The actual number could be in the thousands but many areas hit have been cut off and emergency services are struggling to get to them.Bodies are gradually being found trapped under rubble since the disaster struck on Friday.The dead include 34 children from a Christian camp whose bodies found under a destroyed church.
Shaken survivors have abandoned their ruined homes in search of food and shelter, as food and water run out.
Anger and desperation are growing in parts of the country as residents faced a fourth day without food and drinking water.Indonesian authorities scrambled to get aid and rescue equipment into quake-hit Sulawesi island and prepared to bury some of the dead. Signs propped along roads in Sulawesi read “We Need Food” and “We Need Support”, while children begged for cash in the streets.Queues for fuel, which has almost run out in the area, were miles long and the national police and troops were deployed to guard petrol stations and food shops.
Devastation hit the country on Friday when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent 20-foot tsunami unleashed hell.Around 50,000 people have been displaced by the twin disaster, with many still trying to escape the devastated region.Over 3,000 people flocked to Palu’s airport on Monday, trying to board military aircraft or one of the few commercial flights leaving the airport, which has suffered severe damage.Videos showed crowds screaming in anger because they were not able to get on a military plane.
“We have not eaten for three days,” one woman yelled. “We just want to be safe.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered more rescuers to be sent in to find victims this morning.
This morning two shallow earthquakes measuring 5.9 and 6.0 occurred near the eastern Indonesian island of Sumba, nearly 1,600km south of Palu, which was the most heavily hit on Friday.Yesterday, Daily Star Online revealed starving survivors were bury their dead and searching for food as rescue teams struggled to reach them.One of the first evacuation flights from Palu only landed in East Java on Tuesday afternoon, carrying dozens of people, including injured victims. Hundreds of people are still waiting to be evacuated, with seven aircraft ready to evacuate.
But crews have not yet been summoned for the flights, according to Sky.
Date published: 03/10/2018
Written by: Lucy Domachowski
Article source: www.dailystar.co.uk