Rescuers struggling to help after earthquake in Indonesia

MAMUJU, Indonesia — Damaged roads and bridges, power blackouts and lack of heavy equipment hampered rescuers Saturday after a strong earthquake left at least 49 people dead and hundreds injured on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.

Operations were focused on about eight locations in the hardest-hit city of Mamuju, where people were still believed trapped after the magnitude 6.2 quake that struck early Friday, said Saidar Rahmanjaya, who heads the local search and rescue agency.

Cargo planes carrying food, tents, blankets and other supplies from Jakarta landed late Friday for distribution in temporary shelters. Still, thousands of people spent the night in the open, fearing aftershocks and a possible tsunami.

At least 415 houses in the neighboring Majene district were damaged, and about 15,000 people were moved to shelters, said Raditya Jati, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

West Sulawesi police spokesperson Syamsu Ridwan said more than 200 people were receiving treatment at the Bhayangkara police hospital and several others in

Mamuju alone. An additional 630 were injured in Majene.

Many survivors said aid had not reached them yet because of damaged roads and disrupted communications.

Video from a TV station showed villagers in Majene, some carrying machetes, forcibly stopping vehicles carrying aid. They climbed onto a truck and threw boxes of instant noodles and other supplies at dozens of people who were scrambling to get them.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Friday that he instructed his Cabinet ministers and disaster and military officials to coordinate the response.

Abdi Latief / Associated Press A government building in Mamuju, on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, sits badly damaged after Friday’s earthquake.