Indonesia tsunami: Death toll rises to 1,234, leaves citizens begging for help

The number of death toll has risen to 1,234 in Indonesia after a strong tsunami hit the region on Friday. Following a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Sulawesi, the eastern Indonesian still reeling and begging for help.

The number of helpless people increasing who are desperately in need of food, fuel and water. Humanitarian relief convoys entering the city are now being escorted by soldiers and police. There are several people still be trapped under the rubble of the buildings.

All normal services have been broken down and everyone is busy making efforts to get basic foods for their families. Almost 50 people believed to have been caught inside a hotel when it was collapsed by the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday.

There is a group of armed police is seen guarding a shop, being pressed by local people to let them in. Suddenly, the police started shouting, warning everyone to back off, followed by volleys of shots fired in the air and tear gas shell. Some of the men pelted stones at the police, for a moment it seemed it might escalate.

A few minutes later, the police backed down and let the crowd in. The atmosphere was changed, from anger to jubilation as people came running down the street clutching shopping bags.

The police have tried to stop people taking non-food items — some were made to empty the sacks bulging with commandeered produce, and hand over plastic toys and toiletries.

According to the BBC report, bodies of 34 students have been found under a church buried by a mudslide. These 34 Indonesian students were among the reported 86 missing students from a Bible camp in the Jonooge Church Training Centre. There are 53 students yet to be found.

“The mud conditions in that area are terrible, we have to walk about 1.5 hours to reach (the mudslide area), that makes it very difficult,” Ridwan Sobri, a spokesperson for the Indonesian Red Cross told the BBC. The identities and ages of the students could not yet be confirmed.

According to the report, Two Earthquakes also struck in quick succession off the southern coast of island Sumba of Indonesia on Tuesday morning, sending startled people into the streets for safety.

“We felt four shakes. People were panicking when the first quake happened and ran out of the hotel, about 40 of our guests,” Defis Rinaldi, a worker at the Pasadena Beach Hotel quoted by AFP as saying.

Also read: Indonesia earthquake & tsunami Watch Shocking Videos