“Reports from the village heads of Balaroa and Petobo indicate that roughly 5,000 people haven’t been found,” spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told reporters on Sunday.
“However, officials there are still trying to confirm this and collecting data. It is not easy to determine the exact number of people trapped by landslides, liquefaction or mudslides.”
Nugroho said the seek for the unidentified people would proceed until October 11, after they were reported missing and presumed dead.
This number dramatically increases the estimate of people that disappeared when the disaster occurred 10 days ago. Authorities initially predicted that about 1,000 people were buried under the ruins of Palu.
However, the most recent data shows significant damage within the hardest-hit areas of Petobo and Balaroa as the image becomes clearer.
1,400 dead, 70,000 homeless. Why would not Indonesia, affected by the tsunami, want help?
1,400 dead, 70,000 homeless. Why would not Indonesia, affected by the tsunami, want help?
Petobo, a cluster of villages in Palu, was virtually destroyed by the large earthquake and wall of water that devastated Palu.
Much of it was sucked entirely into the bottom as vibrations from the earthquake turned the soil into quicksand.
There were fears that an enormous variety of bodies were hidden under crumbled roofs and twisted reinforcing bars.
In Balaroa, the quake also destroyed an enormous complex of presidency buildings, and rescuers struggled to get well bodies from the chaos that followed the disaster.
The government is considering recognizing communities razed in the course of the Palu disaster as mass graves and leaving them untouched.
Hopes of finding anyone alive have faded because the seek for survivors turns right into a grim gathering and counting of the dead.
“This is day ten. It can be a miracle to search out anyone still alive,” Muhammad Syaugi, head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, said on Sunday.
‘I never believed there can be a tsunami’: Palu talks about survival and loss
‘I never believed there can be a tsunami’: Palu talks about survival and loss
The grim news got here as relief efforts were ramped up after days of delays, reaching 200,000 people desperate for help.
More than per week ago, looters ransacked stores within the wake of the disaster as food and water ran out and convoys of life-saving aid arrived slowly.
But in recent days, the flow of international aid to Palu and native efforts to assist survivors has intensified.
Supply planes increasingly landed in Palu, where soldiers within the ranks unloaded supplies directly onto trucks or helicopters.
More than 82,000 military and civilian personnel, in addition to volunteers, are on the bottom as Indonesian army helicopters make deliveries to distant areas blocked by the disaster.
“They are in great need since the road is cut off and may only be reached by air,” said 2nd Lt. Reinaldo Apri after piloting a helicopter into the rugged Lindu district, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Palu.
Hercules planes carrying tons of donations from Australia and the United States arrived in Palu on Sunday morning, as did a plane chartered by Save the Children and one other with a South African medical team.
Teams of Indonesian Red Cross employees arrange warehouses and deployed to distribute supplies throughout the region.
But aid employees face a monumental task.
Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami sent 63-meter ferry ‘bouncing like a basketball’ through Wani village
Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami sent 63-meter ferry ‘bouncing like a basketball’ through Wani village
Tens of hundreds of individuals left homeless by the disaster are scattered across Pal and beyond, with many crouching outside their ruined homes or hiding in makeshift camps, relying entirely on donations for survival.
“There’s nowhere else to get food, nowhere is open,” said 18-year-old Sela Fauziah in Palu’s central market, where she stood according to a whole lot of others for essential groceries handed out by soldiers.
In distant areas the situation is much more desperate.
“I’m coming to Palu to report that we want tents because 95 percent of our village has been destroyed,” said Simsom Mudju of Liddu, who climbed aboard a helicopter to inform the skin world concerning the plight of his stranded community.
This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: The variety of missing people increases as aid arrives in Palu
