Indonesian rescuers scramble to reach isolated towns

Published December 27, 2018
BAKAUHENI (Indonesia): Residents disembark from a ferry at this port after being evacuated from a tsunami-hit island.—AFP
BAKAUHENI (Indonesia): Residents disembark from a ferry at this port after being evacuated from a tsunami-hit island.—AFP

CARITA: Indonesian search and rescue teams on Wednesday plucked stranded residents from remote islands and pushed into isolated communities desperate for aid in the aftermath of a volcano-triggered tsunami that killed over 400.

But torrential rains hampered the effort and heaped more misery on the region, as officials warned another killer wave could hit the stricken area.

The disaster agency cautioned residents to stay clear of the coast, as fresh activity at the Anak Krakatoa volcano — which sits in the middle of the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands — threatened to spark another tsunami.

The agency also said that wind was blowing “ash and sand” from Anak Krakatoa to the nearby towns of Cilegon and Serang on Java, and advised residents to wear masks and glasses if they had to venture outdoors.

A section of the crater — which emerged at the site of the legendary Krakatoa volcano, whose massive 1883 eruption killed at least 36,000 people — collapsed after an eruption and slid into the ocean, triggering Saturday night’s killer wave.

It struck without warning, washing over popular beaches and inundating tourist hotels and coastal communities, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.

The disaster agency slightly raised the death toll on Wednesday to 430, with 1,495 people injured and another 159 missing. Nearly 22,000 people have been evacuated and are living in shelters.

“There’s a chance the number of fatalities will rise,” agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a press briefing.

Medical workers have warned that clean water and medicine supplies were running low — stoking fears of a public health crisis — as thousands of displaced survivors cram shelters and hospitals. Many have been left homeless by the killer wave, and fear going back to their communities.

“I’m here because peo-ple said there could another tsunami,” Etin Supriatin said from an evacua-tion centre in shattered Labuan.

The disaster agency dispatched helicopters to drop supplies into hard-to-reach communities, while hundreds of residents on tiny islands in the Sunda Strait were airlifted or taken by boat to shelters.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2018

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.