Nearly a week after Indonesia quake, hope for missing fades
PALU, Indonesia — One week after a magnitude 7.5 quake spawned a deadly tsunami on the island of Sulawesi, countless people have yet to find their loved ones — both survivors and the dead.
As of Thursday, the government put the death toll at 1,558, with 113 people missing. Many families, though, never registered their losses with police.
It’s also unknown how many might have drowned, been swept out to sea or were swallowed up in two of Palu’s neighborhoods where the quake turned the ground into quicksand-like soil.
As the search for victims continued, aid workers raced to get shelter, food, medicine and other badly needed supplies to survivors.
The Indonesian military was bringing in hundreds more troops to help with search and rescue efforts and keep order among survivors who have grown desperate six days after their lives were thrown into chaos. Hundreds of the injured and other survivors lined up on the tarmac of Palu’s badly damaged airport, hoping to escape aboard military aircraft.
As help and supplies began arriving, there were other signs of progress: Trucks were hauling in new electricity poles to replace broken ones and restringing the wires.
The United Nations announced a $15 million allocation to support relief efforts, saying more than 200,000 people were in dire need of assistance.
More t han 70,000 homes are thought to have been wrecked by the quake, demolished by the tsunami or engulfed by mud slides. Thousands of people are sleeping in tents or in rough shelters made from debris.