Tsunami looting starts as death toll hits 832
Electricity cut off and fuel in short supply amid rescuers’ frantic efforts to find survivors in the rubble
Residents of Palu, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, turned to looting yesterday as they struggled to survive in the aftermath of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that has so far killed 832 people. Looters were spotted taking items from the badly damaged Ramayana shopping mall and plundering fuel stations. One earthquake survivor told The Daily Telegraph that he had been woken up by a noisy crowd ransacking his local mini-market.
RESIDENTS of Palu, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, turned to looting yesterday as they struggled to survive in the aftermath of a deadly 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that has so far killed 832 people.
Looters were spotted taking items from the damaged Ramayana shopping mall and plundering fuel stations.
One earthquake survivor told The Daily Telegraph that he had been woken up by a noisy crowd ransacking his local mini-market.
“Without justifying it, I understand why,” said the man, who identified himself as Suwanto. “My wife told me last night that our food supplies will last only two days. The big problem is clean water.”
Joko Widodo, the Indonesian president, who visited Palu yesterday, urged residents to be patient.
Electricity has been cut off and fuel is in short supply in the worst affected areas around Palu and the town of Donggala. Damage to the runway and control tower at Palu airport has hampered both aid and the rescue efforts.
Roads into the area have also been severely damaged. Amali, a truck driver from Gorontalo, spoke of his terror in trying to bring in much-needed supplies along collapsed roads.
“In one part, we have to go past the edge of a cliff. If the driver loses concentration for just a moment then the truck could fall over the side,” he said.
The full extent of the devastation in Sulawesi has not yet been revealed as rescue teams are still struggling to reach the worst-affected areas.
Officials have warned that the death toll could rise into the thousands and announced mass burials yesterday in a desperate attempt to stave off disease.
Indonesia’s disaster authorities are now under scrutiny after scientists were taken by surprise by the tsunami, which reportedly reached 20ft in height and hit the coastline at speeds in the hundreds of miles per hour.
The approach of the unexpected killer wave was caught in a chilling video on social media. Like a scene from a horror movie, a man screams desperately to warn people loitering on the beachfront street below.
From his standpoint a few storeys above, he can see the surge of water but people are slow to react, their view blocked by beach huts. Cars drive past with no urgency, seemingly unaware.
The man cries louder, but as the murky waters hit with brutal force, submerging the huts and wreaking havoc, his voice breaks into sobs as those he tried to save run belatedly for the stairs. Noticeably absent from the video is the sound of a tsunami warning siren, which could have saved lives.
Indonesia’s geophysics agency had initially issued a tsunami warning but lifted it 34 minutes later based on data available from the closest tidal sensor, around 125 miles from Palu.
It emerged yesterday that a life-saving early warning system had been stalled for five years. Sea floor sensors and fibre-optic cable were supposed to replace a system set up after an earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 250,000 people in the region in 2004. But delays in getting funding meant it hadn’t moved past the prototype phase.
Rescuers are racing to try to find survivors under the rubble, but are currently lacking the heavy machinery.
Some 50 people, including a South Korean tourist, are believed to be trapped in the wreckage of the Roaroa hotel. A village chief said that 100 to 200 people could also be buried under the debris of a residential complex.
Of the 61 foreigners known to be in Palu at the time of the disaster, most have been accounted for, but three French citizens and one Malaysian remain missing.