“Our own staff have been affected and their own homes damaged. We are deploying in teams, but at this stage communications with Palu, on the island of Sulawesi, is extremely challenging, so we, like others, are grappling with understanding the full impact of this disaster,” said Doseba Sinay, the aid agency’s national director in Indonesia.<doc-sep>The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia‘s Sulawesi island has increased to 1,763 – with more than 5,000 feared missing, officials have announced. Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said authorities were trying to confirm the number still missing in several villages obliterated when the quake caused loose soil to liquefy, sucking houses into deep mud and burying occupants. The number of fatalities is likely to increase once the level of damage has been assessed in rural areas, the agency said. Officials also said they will stop searching for the bodies of victims among the ruins of buildings. Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures Show all 17 1 /17 Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A handout photo made available by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows an aerial image of Palu city harbor in Palu, central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 29 September 2018 after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Palu, central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 28 September 2018. According to BNPB the death toll from the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami has jumped to 384 as the number might be keep rising EPA Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A handout photo made available by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows an aerial image of the coastal area of Palu city, central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 29 September 2018 after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Palu, central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 28 September 2018. According to BNPB the death toll from the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami has jumped to 384 as the number might be keep rising. EPA Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A handout photo made available by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows an aerial image of the coastal area of Palu city, central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 29 September 2018 after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Palu, central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 28 September 2018. According to BNPB the death toll from the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami has jumped to 384 as the number might be keep rising. EPA Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A man surveys the damage caused by earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. The powerful earthquake rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday, triggering a 3-meter-tall (10-foot-tall) tsunami that an official said swept away houses in at least two cities. AP Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A mosque is seen heavily damaged by earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. The powerful earthquake rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday, triggering a 3-meter-tall (10-foot-tall) tsunami that an official said swept away houses in at least two cities. AP Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A department store building is seen heavily damaged by earthquake in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. The powerful earthquake rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday, triggering a 3-meter-tall (10-foot-tall) tsunami that an official said swept away houses in at least two cities. AP Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures Indonesian soldiers load emergency supplies into a Hercules military plane before heading to Palu at Halim Perdanakusuma military base in Jakarta, Indonesia, Reuters Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures The ruin of a mosque badly damaged by earthquake and tsunami is seen in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. The powerful earthquake rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday, triggering a 3-meter-tall (10-foot-tall) tsunami that an official said swept away houses in at least two cities. AP Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A handout photo made available by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows the collapsed Anutapura hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 28 September 2018 (issued 29 September 2018). According to BNPB, a series of powerful earthquakes hit Central Sulawesi killing at least one person and injuring dozens. EPA Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures People walk near the ruins of a shop at the beach after a tsunami hit in Palu, Indonesia Sulawesi Island, Reuters Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures The ruins of cars as seen after tsunami hit in Palu, Indonesia Reuters Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures Residents make their way along a street full of debris after an earthquake and tsunami hit Palu, on Sulawesi island on September 29, 2018. - Rescuers scrambled to reach tsunami-hit central Indonesia and assess the damage after a strong quake brought down several buildings and sent locals fleeing their homes for higher ground. AFP/Getty Images Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A handout photo made available by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows houses in ruins after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 28 September 2018 (issued 29 September 2018). According to BNPB, a series of powerful earthquakes hit Central Sulawesi killing at least one person and injuring dozens EPA Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A shopping center heavily damaged following an earthquake in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia September Reuters Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures A handout photo made available by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows houses in ruins after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 29 September 2018. According to BNPB, a series of powerful earthquakes hit Central Sulawesi killing at least one person and injuring dozens. EPA Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures Residents trying to salvage belongings from their homes which collapsed after an earthquake and tsunami hit Palu on Sulawesi island on September 29, 2018. - Nearly 400 people were killed when a powerful quake sent a tsunami barrelling into the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, officials said on September 29, as hospitals struggled to cope with hundreds of injured and rescuers scrambled to reach the stricken region AFP/Getty Indonesia quake and tsunami in pictures Medical team members help patients outside a hospital after an earthquake and a tsunami hit Palu, on Sulawesi island on September 29, 2018. - Rescuers scrambled to reach tsunami-hit central Indonesia and assess the damage after a strong quake brought down several buildings and sent locals fleeing their homes for higher ground AFP/Getty “Evacuation stops on 11 October,” Mr Nugroho told a news briefing in Jakarta on Sunday, using an Indonesian word that applies to the search and retrieval of both living and dead people. “Victims who have not been found are declared missing,” he added. Some limited searching might still be undertaken but large-scale searches with many personnel and heavy equipment would cease, he said. The city of Palu and surrounding districts in Central Sulawesi province were struck by the disaster on 28 September, affecting up to a million people. International aid has finally begun to reach affected areas, more than a week after the 7.5-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami first hit. The military dropped supplies from helicopters in places and a large Red Cross ship docked at a port in the region. In the dusty one-road village of Pewunu, excited children shouted “Red Cross, Red Cross” as one of the aid group’s medical teams arrived. An RAF aircraft carrying 17.5 tonnes of UK aid landed in Indonesia on Saturday – part of a £3m relief package offered by the government to help those affected by the disaster. Supplies sent to Sulawesi include more than 1,000 shelter kits and almost 300 hygiene kits. Indonesia has often been reluctant to be seen as relying on outside help to cope with disasters. The government shunned foreign aid this year when earthquakes struck the island of Lombok, but it has accepted help from abroad for Sulawesi. Additional reporting by agencies<doc-sep>Indonesia's disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Sulawesi island has risen to 1,763, with more than 5,000 people feared missing. Agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said most of the dead were in the city of Palu, and warned many more people could be buried in the rubble the tremor and tsunami left in their wake. In Palu's Petobo and Balaroa neighbourhoods, more than 3,000 homes were damaged or sucked into deep mud when the Sept. 28 quake caused loose soil to liquefy. "Based on reports from village chiefs in Balaroa and Petobo, some 5,000 people have not been found. Our workers on the ground are trying to confirm this," he said at a news briefing in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. Nugroho said that efforts to retrieve decomposed bodies in deep, soft mud were getting tougher and that some people may have fled or been rescued and evacuated. More than 8,000 either injured or vulnerable residents have been flown or shipped out of Palu, while others could have left by land, he said. Officially, Nugroho said only 265 people are confirmed missing and 152 others still buried under mud and rubble, nine days after the magnitude 7.5 earthquake and powerful tsunami hit Palu and surrounding areas. The government targets to end search operations by Thursday, nearly two weeks after the disaster, at which time those unaccounted for will be declared missing and considered dead, Nugroho said. A villager stands amidst the destruction in Palu. (Tatan Syuflana/Associated Press) As searchers continued to dig through rubble on Sunday, central Sulawesi governor Loki Djanggola said local officials were meeting religious groups and families of victims to seek their consent to turn neighbourhoods wiped out by liquefaction into mass graves. He said on local television that survivors in the outlying villages in Petobo, Balaroa and Jono Oge could be relocated and monuments be built in the areas, which now look like wastelands, to remember the victims interred there. Officials have said that it is not safe for heavy equipment to operate in those areas and that they fear the risk of the spread of disease from decomposed bodies. While grappling with immediate relief needs, the government is also mapping out plans to help more than 70,000 people, including tens of thousands of children, who have been displaced by the disasters to rebuild their lives. Social welfare officials have set up nurseries in makeshift tents as stopgap to keep children safe and help them heal from the trauma. Local television showed children colouring in one such tent in Palu and staff using puppets to minister to affected kids. Market vendors have resumed business and roadside restaurants were open in Palu but long lines of cars and motorcycles still snarled out of gas stations. In Jakarta, volunteers walked around thoroughfares empty of cars collecting donations for earthquake victims during the weekly car free morning in the city centre.<doc-sep>
Teams in the earthquake and tsunami-devastated city of Palu, Indonesia, dug through rubble and mud looking for bodies Monday as the death toll rose to nearly 2,000 with thousands more unaccounted for. In the hard-hit neighborhoods of Petobo and Balaroa more than 3,000 homes were damaged or sucked into deep mud when the magnitude 7.5 quake turned loose, wet soil into quicksand-like mud on Sept. 28. "Based on reports from village chiefs in Balaroa and Petobo, some 5,000 people have not been found. Our workers on the ground are trying to confirm this," disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Sunday at a news briefing in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. Search operations are scheduled to end on Thursday, and those unaccounted for will be declared missing and considered dead, Nugroho said. More than 8,000 injured or vulnerable residents have been flown or shipped out of Palu, while others could have left by land, he said. Children on Monday returned to damaged schools where they helped clean and assess who was still missing. Across the city, nine schools were destroyed, 22 teachers were killed and 14 were missing, the disaster agency said. At the SMP Negeri 15 Palu middle school, fewer than 50 of its 697 students showed up, Reuters reported. "Classes haven't started. We're only collecting data to find out how many students are safe," said school principal Abdul Rashid, who was aware of four students killed in the quake. A resident looks at a boat washed ashore in Wani, on the island of Sulawesi, on Oct. 7, following the Sept. 28 earthquake and tsunami. Mohd Rasfan / AFP - Getty Images "I'm still waiting for the Ministry of Education to give us instructions on when to begin classes. For now, I don't think we're ready. Many children are traumatized and frightened." In some of the areas affected by the disaster, life is starting to return to normal, head of the National Board for Disaster Management Willem Rampangilei said. Immediate food and water needs have been met, and the local government has started to function again. The U.S. has sent a team of disaster experts to the area and said it will send 2,210 rolls of heavy-duty plastic sheeting from its emergency warehouses in Dubai and Malaysia, enough to provide for the emergency shelter needs of 110,500 people. Palu is the main city on Sulawesi, one of Indonesia’s larger islands. More than 250 million people live in this archipelago nation, which has been repeatedly struck by quakes and tsunamis. A search and rescue team uses heavy equipment to recover bodies from the debris in Petobo on Oct. 8. Mohd Rasfan / AFP - Getty Images file The national disaster agency says more than 148 million Indonesians are at risk in earthquake-prone areas and 3.8 million people also face danger from tsunamis, with at most a 40 minute window for warning people to flee. After this most recent quake, however, the three tsunami waves swiftly struck Palu, within just 15 minutes of the quake. In 2004, a quake off the island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.