A city buries its dead as Indonesia toll climbs
Officials use mass grave as earthquake, tsunami survivors clamour to flee
PALU, INDONESIA— As officials began burying hundreds of dead in a mass grave Monday, thousands of survivors of a devastating earthquake and tsunami converged on the airport of this heavily damaged Indonesian city and clamoured to leave, saying there was little to eat and their homes were unsafe.
The confirmed death toll of 844, mostly from the city of Palu, is expected to rise as authorities reach areas that were cut off by the disaster. The magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck at dusk Friday and generated a tsunami said to have been as high as six metres in places. Search-and-rescue teams combed destroyed homes and buildings, including a collapsed hotel, for any trapped survivors, but they needed more heavy equipment to clear the rubble.
Many people were believed trapped under shattered houses in Palu’s Balaroa neighbourhood, where the earthquake caused the ground to heave up and down violently, said disaster agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
In the city’s Petobo section, the quake caused loose, wet soil to liquefy, creating a thick, heavy mud that caused massive damage. “In Petobo, it is estimated that there are still hundreds of victims buried in mud,” Nugroho said.
Residents who found loved ones — alive and dead — over the weekend expressed frustration that it took rescue teams until Monday to reach Petobo. Desperation was evident across Palu, a city of more than 380,000 people on the island of Sulawesi.
About 3,000 residents flocked to its airport, trying to board military aircraft or one of the few commercial flights, local TV reported. Video showed some of them screaming 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!”
Nearly 50,000 people have been left homeless in Palu alone, Nugroho said.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo authorized the acceptance of international help, Nugroho said.