A boy sits with items salvaged from the ruins of a family member's house in the Balaroa neighborhood in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. Desperation was visible everywhere Tuesday among victims receiving little aid in areas heavily damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami, four days after the disaster devastated parts of Indonesia's central Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
(Bloomberg) – The death toll from the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami topped 1,200 as authorities scrambled to bring food and medicines to thousands displaced by Indonesia's deadliest such disaster in more than a decade.
|Flattened buildings, more than 60,000 displaced
Thousands of military and police personnel joined relief and rescue workers in the worst affected areas of Sulawesi island, now in its fourth day since the 7.4 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami unleashed a trail of devastation. President Joko Widodo ordered officials to intensify relief and rescue operations and boost the supply of essential items as reports of looting of food and other goods emerged.
Authorities prepared for the mass burial of about 900 dead bodies on Tuesday even as the death toll jumped to 1,234, after rescuers found more bodies under flattened buildings. Almost 800 people were seriously injured and 99 were missing, including a Belgian and South Korean, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told reporters on Tuesday. More than 60,000 people were displaced, he said.
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