Rescuers use drones, sniffer dogs as tsunami death toll rises
LABUAN, Indonesia (Reuters/AFP) – Indonesian rescuers on Tuesday used drones and sniffer dogs to search for survivors along the devastated west coast of Java hit by a series of tsunamis that killed at least 373 people, warning more victims are expected to be uncovered as the search expands.
Thick ash clouds continued to spew from Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island where a crater collapsed at high tide on Saturday sending tsunamis smashing into coastal areas on both sides of the Sunda Strait between the islands of Sumatra and Java.
At least 128 people remain missing. More than 1,400 people were injured, and thousands of residents had to move to higher ground,
with a high-tide warning extended to Wednesday.
Rescuers used heavy machinery, sniffer dogs, and special cameras to detect and dig bodies out of mud and wreckage along a 100 km (60 mile) stretch of Java's west coast and officials said the search area would be expanded further south.
"There are several locations that we previously thought were not affected," said Yusuf Latif, spokesman for the national search and rescue agency.
"But now we are reaching more remote areas... and in fact there are many victims there," he added.
The vast archipelago, which sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", has suffered its worst annual death toll from disasters in more than a decade.
Earthquakes flattened parts of the island of Lombok in July and August, and a double quake-and-tsunami killed more than 2,000 people on a remote part of Sulawesi island in September.
"At least 373 people have died, while 128 people are currently missing," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the disaster mitigation agency, said on Monday evening.
It took just 24 minutes after the landslide for waves to hit land, and there was no early warning for those living on the coast.
‘Everything is destroyed’
Authorities and experts have warned of further high waves and advised residents to stay away from the shoreline.
"Since Anak Krakatau has been actively erupting for the past several months additional tsunamis cannot be excluded," said Dr. Prof Hermann Fritz, from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States.
Destruction was visible along much of the coastline where waves of up to two metres (six feet) crushed vehicles, lifted chunks of metal, felled trees, wooden beams and household items and deposited them on roads and rice fields.
Nurjana, 20, ran uphill after the tsunami hit. Her beachside snack stall was washed away.
"I opened the door straight away and saved myself. I jumped over the wall," she said. "Everything is destroyed."
Out in the strait, Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) was still erupting, belching white smoke and ash into the sky.
The meteorology agency said that an area of about 64 hectares, or 90 soccer pitches, of the volcanic island had collapsed into the sea.
Health crisis looms
Desperately needed aid flowed mainly by road into a stretch of Indonesia's tsunami-struck coastline Tuesday, but humanitarian workers warned that clean water and medicine supplies were dwindling as thousands crammed makeshift evacuation centres.
"A lot of the children are sick with fevers, headaches and they haven't had enough water," said Rizal Alimin, a doctor working for NGO Aksi Cepat Tanggap,
at a local school that was turned into a temporary shelter.
"We have less medicine than usual... It's not healthy here for evacuees. There isn't enough clean water. They need food and people are sleeping on the floor."
Experts have warned that more deadly waves could slam the stricken region.
Many of the more than 5,000 evacuees are too afraid to return home, fearing another disaster.
"I've been here three days," said Neng Sumarni, 40, who was sleeping with her three children and husband on the school's floor with some three dozen others.
"I'm scared because my home is right near the beach."
Abu Salim, with volunteer group Tagana, said aid workers were scrambling to stabilize the situation.
"Today we're focusing on helping the evacuees in shelters by setting up public kitchens and distributing logistics and more tents in suitable places," he told AFP on Tuesday.
"(People) still don't have access to running water...There are many evacuees who fled to higher ground and we still can't reach them."
Unlike those caused by earthquakes, which usually trigger alert systems, volcano-triggered tsunamis give authorities very little time to warn residents of the impending threat.
Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Monday: "The lack of a tsunami early warning system caused a lot of victims because people did not have the time to evacuate."