Slow arrival of aid frustrates Indonesia quake survivors

PALU, Indonesia — Climbing over reeking piles of sodden food and debris, a crowd Wednesday searched a warehouse wrecked in Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami for anything they could salvage: cans of condensed milk, soft drinks, rice, candy and painkillers.

A trickle of emergency aid is only now reaching parts of Sulawesi island, five days after a quake killed more than 1,400 people, and some increasingly desperate survivors are taking matters into their own hands.

“We came here because we heard there was food,” said Rehanna, a 23-year-old student. “We need clean water, rice.”

Elsewhere in the hard-hit city of Palu, residents clapped and cheered as they swarmed a truck that was finally delivering aid.

“I’m so happy,” said Heruwanto, clutching a box of instant noodles. The 63-year-old man, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, added: “I really haven’t eaten for three days.”

Indonesian authorities have been struggling to get relief to survivors who have been left without food, water, fuel and medicine after Friday’s magnitude 7.5 quake and tsunami that smashed homes and businesses, downed communications and made roads impassable on Sulawesi.

The official death toll rose to 1,407 on Wednesday, with thousands injured and more than 70,000 displaced, said national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. He said the number of dead would increase, but that rescue crews had reached all affected areas.

The Sulawesi coastline spreading out from Palu is a surreal landscape of debris, beached boats, overturned cars and the foundations of obliterated houses. Wrecked houses still standing were spray painted with appeals for aid. The wall of one dwelling was scrawled with the message: “Help us Mr. President.”

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo visited the disaster zone Wednesday for a second time, saying there’s still work to be done but that conditions were improving.

The U.N., in announcing a $15 million allocation to bolster relief efforts, estimated that some 200,000 people need assistance.

Dozens of homeless residents combed a flattened complex of warehouses along Palu’s ravaged coast for anything they could sell or use to rebuild homes. They carted away corrugated metal, wood, piping and other items.

“We have to do this because there’s no assistance from the government,” said Zaitun Rajamangili, 41, adding that his home was swept away but his family survived.

Separately, a volcano erupted on another part of seismically active Sulawesi island, about 585 miles northeast of the disaster zone.

It sent up a plume of ash more than 20,000 feet high. Planes were warned about the ash cloud billowing from Mount Soputan that can be hazardous for aircraft engines. No evacuations were ordered.

Experts said it’s possible the quake accelerated the eruption, but there is no concrete evidence to prove that. Activity at the volcano had been increasing since August and began surging Monday, according to the head of Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation Agency. As if the people on Sulawesi island, Indonesia, have not had enough to worry about, volcanic ash rises Wednesday from Mount Soputan on the same island. Fortunately, the volcano is almost 600 miles away from the area most affected by the earthquake and tsunami last week.