Death toll from massive earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia doubles to 832 as desperate search for survivors continues
Indonesia’s disaster agency has said the death toll from an earthquake and tsunami that devastated part of the island of Sulawesi has climbed to 832.
The tsunami, which was triggered after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake, ripped through the Pacific Ring of Fire and crashed into the Palu at 500mph, causing widespread destruction into the evening on Friday.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman of the national disaster mitigation agency, told a news conference on Sunday that 821 of those killed were in the city of Palu. He said another 11 people were killed in the town of Donggala.
A motorbike passes the wreckage of a car in Palu (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
He said access to Donggala, as well as the towns of Sigi and Boutong, is still limited and there are no comprehensive reports from those areas.
He said: ‘The death is believed to be still increasing since many bodies were still under the wreckage while many have not able to be reached.’
Fears are mounting for the the fishing town of Donggala, which was closer to the epicentre of the quake, but which rescuers have not been able to reach. The town of Mamuju was also severely affected but currently impossible to access due to damaged roads and disrupted telecommunications.
Meanhwhile criticisms have been levelled at the counry’s geophysics agency for lifting the tsunami warning 34 minutes after it was first issued, which may have led to confusion and exacerbated the death toll.
A mosque was badly damaged (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Advertisement
- Downton movie will have a royal plot featuring Queen Mary…
- Banker’s wife ‘accidentally’ sends her newly-employed…
- ‘Help me find my 1,000 siblings’: Dutch man searches for…
- Terrifying moment people flee in panic as giant tsunami…
- ‘Women CAN’T have it all!’ Cosmo editor, 37, says…
- Beauty pageant girl, 14, and male teen friend both found…
- LGBT activist radio DJ, 26, who tried to meet a…
- Inside the multimillion-pound mansion that Real Housewife…
- Teenage thugs receive death threats after being caught on…
- Video of ‘attempted lynching’ in Paris’ lawless suburbs…
- Remote fishing village is feared to be wiped off the map…
- ‘It brought the #MeToo movement very close to home’: Tom…
- Superman, Batman and more than one Joker: Thousands of…
- Last photo of missing teenage girl, 15, shows her at…
- Murder probe is launched after gang barge into town…
- Two lives hanging by a thread: Incredible escape as plane…
- Britain braces for SNOW! Arctic blast brings -7C chill…
- ‘Substance matters’: Sexual assault survivor confronts…
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.