Indonesian city’s recovery to take 2 years, search nears end
PALU, Indonesia (AP) — The rebuilding of an Indonesian city shattered by an earthquake and tsunami will take two years, a disaster official said Thursday, as the search for victims buried in obliterated neighborhoods neared its end.
The national disaster agency’s spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, told a news conference that the official search and rescue effort was extended by a day and would end Friday.
“Because of the demands of the residents to lengthen the search for victims, we have extended the search and evacuation process for one day,” he said.
Officials plan prayers in areas such as Balaroa, Petobo and Jono Oge where the force of the Sept. 28 quake liquefied soft soil and tore apart neighborhoods.
Assessments of the cost of reconstruction are still being carried out, Nugroho said.
“Judging the conditions now, the reconstruction period will be from 2019 to 2020,” he said. “We expect full recovery by 2021.”
The agency said the official death toll had risen to 2,073 as of Thursday, with most of the fatalities in Palu.
Officially, 680 people are missing but officials have acknowledged the number could be several thousand because hundreds of homes were sucked into the earth.
Save the Children’s affiliated organization in Indonesia said there could be as many as 1,500 children missing.
Selina Sumbung, the organization’s chief, said the end of the search mission is accepted with a “heavy heart.”
“Children are particularly vulnerable in disasters, and to think that so many will never have the chance to grow up is heart breaking,” she said in a statement.