PALU: An international aid effort to help tens of thousands of victims of Indonesia’s quake-tsunami disaster swung into gear on Thursday after days of delays, with planes flying in vital supplies for shattered communities.
A total of 1,424 people have been confirmed dead and over 2,500 injured after the monster earthquake struck on Friday, sending destructive waves barrelling into Sulawesi island.
The double disaster reduced buildings in the seaside city of Palu to rubble — but aid has been slow to arrive and looting has broken out.
On Thursday, police armed with guns stood guard outside petrol stations to ensure order in long, winding queues. Trucks carrying supplies have reportedly been ransacked en route to Palu.
Authorities initially turned a blind eye but now police have been rounding up dozens of suspected looters and the military warned that soldiers will fire on anyone caught stealing.
While rescuers continue to comb through destroyed buildings, hope is fading that anyone will be found alive under the rubble. Authorities say over 100 people are still unaccounted for.
Hundreds have been buried in mass graves as overwhelmed authorities race to avert a disease outbreak from corpses rotting in the tropical heat.
The Indonesian government initially refused to accept international help, insisting its own military could handle the response, but as the scale of the disaster became clear President Joko Widodo reluctantly agreed to allow in overseas aid.
Efforts to get desperately needed aid to hungry and thirsty victims, many now homeless and sleeping in evacuation camps, were slow to get off the ground due to severed transport links.
Palu airport, badly damaged in the twin disaster, finally re-opened to all flights on Thursday, allowing the international aid effort to ramp up.
“The government of Indonesia is experienced and well-equipped in managing natural disasters, but sometimes, as with all other countries, outside help is also needed,” said United Nations aid chief Mark Lowcock, announcing the UN was pledging $15 million towards the recovery effort.
Air force chief Yuyu Sutisna said foreign governments, including Singapore, South Korea and Britain, were sending 20 planes to help in the relief effort.
Australia and New Zealand are sending air force transport planes to Indonesia carrying tarpaulins, generators and water containers. A team of French rescuers were in Palu and helping search teams on Thursday, while NGO Oxfam said it expects to be on the ground by Saturday.
An Indonesian navy ship docked in the city carrying water and food, which was loaded by soldiers onto trucks.
“We have to get to places where people need aid really quickly,” said first admiral Dwi Sulaksono.
Desperate survivors, some crying, waited to get a spot on the vessel which was set to return to the city of Makassar in southern Sulawesi, and brief scuffles broke out with soldiers.
A missing South Korean has been confirmed dead, Seoul’s foreign ministry said, in the first recorded foreigner fatality.
A Belgian remains missing while over 100 other foreigners in the ravaged area have been evacuated, the disaster agency said.
Indonesia, which has a longstanding problem with “fake news”, vowed to clamp down after false reports related to the disaster circulated online, including one saying another quake had hit Sulawesi. — AFP
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