Death toll hits 832 as authorities brace for worse

PALU: The toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia soared yesterday to 832 confirmed dead, with authorities fearing it will only climb as rescuers struggle to reach outlying communities cut off from communications and help.

Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of two hotels and a mall here, which was hit by waves as high as six metres following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday.

A young woman was pulled alive from the rubble of the city’s Roa Roa Hotel, where up to 60 people were believed trapped. Hundreds of people gathered at the wrecked mall searching for loved ones.

With most of the confirmed deaths from here, authorities are bracing for much worse as reports filter in from outlying areas, in particular, Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north and closer to the epicentre of the quake, and two other districts.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the toll could rise to thousands.

President Joko Widodo visited a housing complex flattened when the quake liquefied the soil it stood on, and called for patience.

“I know there are many problems that need to be solved in a short time, including communications,” he said.

The ruins would be rebuilt, he said, as aftershocks rattled the region 48 hours after the quake.

Scores of residents shouted “we’re hungry, we need food” as soldiers distributed rations from a truck in one neighbourhood.

National disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the affected area was bigger than initially thought, and rescuers only had access to one of four affected districts.

Five foreigners — three French, one South Korean and one Malaysian — were among the missing, he said.

The 832 fatalities included people crushed in collapsing buildings and swept to their death by tsunami waves.

About 16,000 displaced people needed clean water, while 540 were injured.

Donggala town has been extensively damaged, with houses swept into the sea and bodies trapped in debris, according to a Metro TV reporter on the scene.

The Red Cross said it had heard nothing from the region.