BANTUL (Indonesia), May 28: Rescue workers dug desperately through rubble on Sunday for survivors of Indonesia’s earthquake as weeping relatives buried victims of the disaster which killed more than 4,600 people.
Thousands of troops and emergency rescue teams joined volunteers who clawed at debris with their bare hands after Saturday’s quake in Central Java, but power blackouts and heavy rain hampered efforts.
In Bantul district south of the provincial capital Yogyakarta, the stench of bodies filled the air as soldiers used a backhoe to dig through the rubble in one neighbourhood that had been completely levelled.
The top priority was to “evacuate victims still trapped in the rubble, using heavy equipment,” said Gendut, a provincial health official.
Bodies were still being pulled from the wreckage of homes as grieving families buried their dead in makeshift graves.
There was confusion late Sunday over the death toll, with two hotlines from the same government ministry giving different figures.
Officials at the social affairs ministry finally set the death toll at 4,611, rather than the figure of 3,875 given earlier, blaming the discrepancy on a break in internal communications.
Indonesia appealed for foreign aid, with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda saying in Malaysia: “This is a humanitarian disaster. Any country that can contribute, we are grateful for it.”
Hospitals struggled to cope with thousands of injured, many of whom spent the night outside, while relief workers took food and medical supplies to some of the 200,000 people left homeless.
The lack of shelter, combined with heavy rain, set the stage for a grim second night undercover, with scores of people huddled under tarpaulins to stay dry.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued an emergency appeal for nearly 10 million dollars and separate multi-million dollar aid pledges poured in from overseas.
Aid workers said the priority was to treat the injured.—AFP
