Death toll from quake and tsunami tops 1,700

The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Indonesia’s Sulawesi island has topped 1,700 and officials fear another 5,000 people could be missing.

The national disaster agency said the number of dead had climbed to 1,763, mostly in Palu. Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said many more people could be buried, especially in the Palu districts of Petobo and Balaroa, where more than 3,000 homes were damaged or sucked into deep mud on 28 September.

He said: “Based on reports from village chiefs in Balaroa and Petobo, some 5,000 people have not been found. Our workers on the ground are trying to confirm this.”

He said efforts to retrieve bodies in the mud were getting more difficult and that some people may have fled or been rescued and evacuated. More than 8,000 injured or vulnerable residents have been flown or shipped out of Palu, while others could have left by land, he said.