More than 1,000 People Still Lost in Sulawesi Death toll could be 2000 to 3000

With the information just released that there still at least a thousand people missing and probably more unfortunately there is a chance that before this is over there may be fatalities of 2,500 to 3,000 or more from the last weeks deadly 7.4 earthquake followed by a 3 m to 6 m tsunami in Sulawesi 1000 km north of Bali.

Friday, October 5 2018 15:51 WIB

More than 1,000 People Still Lost in Sulawesi

More than a thousand people are still declared missing following a double disaster in Central Sulawesi. While the number of deaths recorded so far has now reached 1,558, according to the National SAR Agency.

"We estimate that there are more than a thousand buried houses, so maybe more than 1,000 people are still missing," Yusuf Latif, Basarnas spokesman said. "But we are not sure because there is a possibility that some people managed to get out," he added. Previously the government estimated that only 100 people were missing.
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Meanwhile the flow of aid from abroad began to arrive in the disaster area. The United Nations (UN) records nearly 200,000 survivors needing humanitarian assistance. Some frustrated invaded aid shops and trucks. As a result, security forces were stationed to guard and shoot looters.


"Yesterday we still detected heartbeat and respiratory signs, there was no other movement, meaning that the person could not move," said Philippe Besson, President of the International Fire Department. "Today we did not detect anything," he added.

A week after the disaster, the main roads were still unable to pass. Residents begin to place a white flag outside the house to indicate that a family member has died.

Even so life slowly returned to normal in Palu. Children began to be seen playing on the road, the radio frequency again voiced entertainment songs and the electricity supply gradually recovered. "Everything is getting better," said Azhari Samad, a resident of Palu. But so that the disaster area can fully recover, "it will take years," he said.

"The first six months will be very traumatic, maybe one year. The government will help, other people from all over the country will also come to help. Indonesians have a great day."
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In a village outside Donggala, Irham hassan gathered 200 men in a mosque to perform Friday prayers. "We feel a little relieved because there is no other tsunami threat," he said. "But we can't go home yet."

About 20 aircraft were seen passing through the Palu sky carrying humanitarian assistance. Britain, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and a number of other countries sent military transport aircraft to Sulawesi to help with transportation. The UN has also prepared a recovery fund of 15 million US Dollars. While various international humanitarian organizations have also deployed special teams to Sulawesi since the last few days.

rzn / hp (afp, rtr)


Artikel ini telah tayang di Tribunnews.com dengan judul More than 1,000 People Still Lost in Sulawesi, http://www.tribunnews.com/internasional/2018/10/05/lebih-dari-1000-orang-masih-hilang-di-sulawesi.