Indonesia opens to international aid after deadly earthquakes and tsunami

The confirmed death toll has reached 844, a number that BNPB said is more likely to rise significantly as many victims remained trapped under rubble or mud, especially in hard-to-reach areas.

Given the size of the disaster, President Joko Widodo ordered Indonesia’s foreign minister to start coordinating international assistance from China, Australia, the United States and the European Union.

Hundreds dead, communities cut off, prisoners released: Indonesia calls for assist in earthquake-hit Sulawesi

“We learned from the 2004 Aceh tsunami that in terms of international aid, we have to be selective and only accept aid that we actually need,” BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said at a press conference. “We need to choose countries based on their ability to help us.”

During the Aceh tsunami, Indonesia accepted an unprecedented $6 billion in donations from 117 countries, but analysts said the measures ended up increasing socioeconomic inequality in the world as a result of a scarcity of experience and regulations regarding international aid – for instance, only certain communities received high-quality apartments.

For now, the country is prioritizing tents, water treatment equipment, generators, field hospitals, medical personnel and aircraft that may land on 2,000-meter runways.

BNPB estimates that Central Sulawesi has suffered damages of greater than 10 trillion rupiah ($670.56 million), greater than it suffered from the recent earthquakes on the island of Lombok.

Rescuers proceed to face obstacles reaching Donggala, the epicenter of the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck at dusk on Friday, citing damaged roads, landslides and a scarcity of heavy equipment that would speed up evacuations and search and rescue operations.

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“Survivors are in search of shelter in open fields, those remaining within the hills are already joining other survivors in quest of food and basic necessities,” Sutopo said. “Earthquake and tsunami survivors really need…shelter, blankets, ready-to-eat food and health care.”

Sutopo said a search and rescue team had reached Donggala but couldn’t be contacted as there was still no power or communications within the region.

The agency said there have been 254 aftershocks following Friday’s earthquake and tsunami in Central Sulawesi. Of particular concern are two housing complexes in Palu, the regional capital, situated on the Palu-Koro fault system running under the island of Sulawesi.

Sutopo said nearly 2,500 homes within the Balaroa and Patobo complexes were buried in mud after the earthquake and six-meter-high tsunami wave, complicating rescue efforts.

It was feared that tons of of individuals were buried in landslides that engulfed surrounding villages.

The chaos was also deepened by the Indonesian government, which reported that as many as 1,200 prisoners had escaped from three different prison centers within the devastated region.

Justice Ministry official Sri Puguh Utami said prisoners had escaped from overcrowded centers in Palu and Donggala.

“I’m sure they fled because they were afraid the earthquake would hit them. For prisoners, it is certainly a matter of life and death,” she added.

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A mass burial took place in Palu on Monday in a 10-by-100-meter trench that could be enlarged if necessary, BNPB chief Willem Rampangilei said.

“This [burial] this should be done as soon as possible for health and religious reasons,” he said. Indonesia is majority Muslim, and spiritual customs dictate burial soon after death, normally inside a day.

Local military spokesman Mohammad Thorir said the nearby public cemetery could bury 1,000 bodies. All victims, from local hospitals, were photographed to assist families locate where their family members were buried.

Of the 114 foreigners who were in Palu and Donggala on the time of the crash, eight remain missing – one Belgian, one South Korean and 6 French nationals – while the remaining were rescued or evacuated.

Across Palu city, 48,025 refugees have taken shelter, Sutopo said, adding that 90 people were still missing and 632 were seriously injured.

The number is anticipated to rise as rescuers slowly reach hard-hit areas similar to Parigi Moutong and Sigi, where power has yet to be restored, making evacuations difficult at night.

Aid is being distributed by land, air and sea, but not all survivors have been reached and long queues are forming for individuals who have.

Police were guarding the overland distribution of aid to Palu after footage emerged on social media of West Sulawesi survivors looting logistics vehicles in Mamuju and Poso on their technique to the provincial capital, Sutopo said.

A destroyed hotel in Palu becomes the goal of rescue operations after the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia

People affected by lack of food and supplies were also becoming increasingly desperate. Local television reported that about 3,000 residents arrived at Palu airport attempting to escape. The footage shows some people screaming in anger because they were unable to board the departing military plane. The airport resumed just some business flights.

“We haven’t eaten for three days!” one woman shouted. “We just want to be safe!”

Indonesia’s geographic location on the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines within the Pacific Basin, makes it vulnerable to disasters similar to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis. BNPD data shows that between 4,500 and 6,000 earthquakes hit the country every year.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse

This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: Jakarta calls on the world for help