ID :
506837
Tue, 10/02/2018 - 07:00
Auther :

Authorities Fear Sulawesi Quake, Tsunami Death Toll Could Rise

JAKARTA, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Authorities are anticipating a sharp rise in the death toll in Central Sulawesi that is recovering from last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami as rescue teams approach the epicentre of the tremor in Kota Palu and Donggala. Already, 844 people have been confirmed dead as of 1 pm Monday by the Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB). BNPB head of the Centre for Information Data and Public Relations, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said it was feared that the death toll will rise because search and rescue teams have begun entering the worst-hit areas. Indonesian online media quoted the deputy president of the Indonesia Volunteer Society, Insan Nurrohman, as saying that the death toll had reached 1,203 as of 1 pm Monday. Sutopo lamented that BNPB faced a setback in calculating the number of dead speedily due to the communications network that has yet to be fully restored. “The official death toll is 844. The impact of the earthquake and tsunami has been felt over a wide area. The authorities are working hard in search and rescue,” he said. Meanwhile, one of the two Malaysians who were in Palu during the incident has returned home to Malaysia. Dr Farah Liana Basri was flown in a special military aircraft to Jakarta and boarded an AirAsia flight at 1.30 am (2.30 am Malaysia), arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 4.30 am Monday. A spokesman of the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta said the other Malaysian, Vijayan Govinathan Nai, is now in Poso, Central Sulawesi, and is scheduled to board a special military aircraft to get to Jakarta Tuesday morning. The Indonesian authorities and search and rescue teams are up against badly damaged roads and disrupted electricity supply and communications networks. It is reported that the heavily-populated villages in the Tondo, Parimo, Punglere and Petobo provinces are badly affected and “quiet”. The authorities fear that many people in these areas may be missing or dead due to the tsunami. The earthquake, of 7.4 magnitude on the Richter scale, rocked Palu city and Donggala last Friday and triggered a three-metre-high tsunami. The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics reported 254 earthquakes of 2.9 to 6.2 magnitude up to noon Monday. Also on Monday, an earthquake of 5.5 magnitude occurred 62km northeast of Donggala at 12.43 pm. Meanwhile, Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the Mutiara SIS Al Jufri Airport in Palu was opened to commercial flights Monday. -- BERNAMA

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