Categories: World

Death Toll From Indonesia Tsunami Could Reach 5000 as More Bodies Found

Nearly 2000 bodies have been recovered from Palu since an earthquake and tsunami hit the Indonesian city, the officials said warning the number would rise with thousands still missing.

The death toll from the twin disaster on Sulawesi Island that erased whole suburbs in Palu has reached 1,944, said local military spokesman Muhammad Thohir.

Many people claimed lives in Indonesia Tsunami and earthquake

“That number is expected to rise because we have not received orders to halt the search for bodies,” Thohir, who is also a member of the government’s official Palu quake taskforce, told the press.

Authorities have said as many as 5,000 are believed missing in two hard-hit areas since the September 28 disaster, indicating far more may have been perished than the current toll, which make the hopes of finding anyone alive to reduce and the search for survivors amid the wreckage has turned to gathering and accounting for the dead.

The disaster agency said the official search for the unaccounted would continue until October 11 at which point they would be listed as missing and assumingly dead.

A woman who lost her nephew in earthquake stands in the Balaroa neighbourhood

The government has said it will declare those communities flattened in Palu as mass graves and leave them untouched. Gopal, whose aunt and uncle are missing, picked through wreckage Monday knowing just days were left to find his loved ones.

“Even if they (search teams) stop looking, we will still try to find them ourselves,” the 40-year-old said in Balaroa, one of the hardest hit neighbourhoods.

“When we can no longer do it ourselves, we leave it to Allah,” Gopal, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, added.

Excavators and rescuers combed Balaroa on Monday, where a massive government housing complex was all but swallowed up by the disaster. Rescuers have struggled to extract decomposing bodies from the tangled mess left behind.

Officials say as many as 5,000 people were feared buried at Balaroa and Petobo, another decimated community. Petobo, a cluster of villages was included when vibrations from the 7.5-magnitude quake turned the soil to quicksand a process known as liquefaction.

Relief efforts have escalated to assist 200,000 people in desperate need. Food and clean water remain in short supply yet many are dependent entirely on handouts to survive. Helicopters have been running supply drops to more isolated communities outside Palu, where the full extent of the damage is still not entirely clear.

The Red Cross said Monday it had treated more than 1,800 people at medical clinics and administered first aid to a similar number in the immediate disaster zone. Indonesia sits along the world’s most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

READ ALSO:

Lewis Hamilton wins Japanese Grand Prix, takes step closer on fifth F1 title

Herman Nnyanzi

Recent Posts

President Museveni Launches Teso Industrial Hub, Warns Against School Fees in Public Schools

President Yoweri Museveni has inaugurated the Teso Zonal Presidential Industrial Hub in Arapai, Soroti City,…

1 day ago

KCCA Halts Ham Enterprises Projects Over Flooding Concerns in Kampala

The Acting Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Frank Rusa, has suspended construction…

1 day ago

Museveni Appoints Prof. Moses Muhwezi as Makerere University Business School Principal

President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Prof. Moses Muhwezi as the principal of Makerere University Business…

2 weeks ago

Uganda Launches TVET Reforms to Boost Employment

The Ugandan government has introduced reforms in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)…

4 weeks ago

Mbarara University Holds 31st Graduation, Welcomes New Vice Chancellor

Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) held its 31st graduation ceremony on 19th October…

1 month ago

Love Languages Unpacked: How to Communicate Love in Ways That Truly Resonate

Discover the five love languages and learn how to communicate love effectively in your relationships.…

1 month ago

This website uses cookies.