Pictures of large-scale destruction emerged from Indonesia after a tsunami hit the Indonesia island of Sulawesi. According to the report, over 800 people still missing and 832 people have been confirmed dead. The death toll is expected to rise further.
Authorities are busy making an arrangement for burying victims in mass graves, as they have feared disease could begin to spread. According to a BBC report, dozens of people still trapped alive under the debris.
Following a Friday night’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake, a major bridge collapsed into the sea and later a powerful tsunami washed everything away including trees, roads, cars and houses. Across Palu’s Talise Beach on Monday, there are dozens of families seen searching for loved ones.
“Communication is limited, heavy machinery is limited… it’s not enough for the numbers of buildings that collapsed,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency told BBC.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited the region and took stock of the situation. He also urged a “day and night” effort to rescue survivors.
Widodo has also agreed to accept international help for disaster response and relief said Thomas Lembong, the head of the Indonesian investment board, on Twitter on Monday. According to a Justice Ministry report, 1,200 convicts have been escaped from three different detention facilities in the Sulawesi region following the earthquake and tsunami.
“[We are] looking for our compatriot. I visited him last month, he’s in good health but after this incident, we are continuing our effort to search for him, to make sure that he is safe,” he told ANC’s Dateline Philippines.
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the final number of dead could be in the “thousands” as many regions have still not been reached. The DFA has also expressed its condolences to Indonesia, adding that Manila is ready to extend assistance to Jakarta.
Also read: Indonesia tsunami and quake: Over 400 killed, 500 injured in Palu and Donggala