Schools begin counting pupils
PALU: Children in the Indonesian city of Palu began returning to school yesterday to tidy up their classrooms and to discover how many of their fellow pupils will be coming back, 10 days after a major earthquake and tsunami hit their city.
The death toll from the quake yesterday approached 2000. The 7.5 magnitude quake on September 28 brought down many buildings in the small city on Sulawesi island, 1500 km northeast of Jakarta, while tsunamis smashed into its beachfront.
The biggest killer was probably soil liquefaction, which obliterated whole neighbourhoods. The official death toll is 1944 but bodies were still being recovered. Noone knows how many are missing and the national disaster agency said it could be up to 5000..
At one state high school, teenagers swept up broken glass in the classrooms. The pupils found out that they had to turn up to school through messages on Facebook and WhatsApp.
School principal Kasiludin said authorities told all teachers to show up for work from yesterday to collect information on pupil numbers.
‘‘We won’t force the students to come back because many are traumatised. But we must start again soon to keep their spirits up and so they don’t fall behind,’’ he said.
The school had lost at least seven pupils and one teacher, he said.
At the SMP Negeri 15 Palu middle school, fewer than 50 of its 697 pupils showed up.
School principal Abdul Rashid said he was aware of four pupils killed in the quake.
‘‘Classes haven’t started. We’re only collecting data to find out how many students are safe,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m still waiting for the Ministry of Education to give us instructions on when to begin classes. For now, I don’t think we’re ready. Many children are traumatised and frightened.’’
One boy chatting in the school compound with a few friends said he was disappointed that so few of his class mates had shown up.
‘‘I want school to start as soon as possible so I can find out how my friends are doing,’’ Muhamad Islam Bintang Lima said.
‘‘I haven’t heard from so many of them. I want to think positively. I hope they are OK.’’
Most of the dead from the quake and tsunami were in Palu, the region’s main urban centre. — Reuters