New Zealand provides $1.6m emergency response for Indonesia quake, tsunami

Officials with the country’s disaster agency confirmed at least 844 people have died as of Monday, October 1 after the quake struck and caused a tsunami with heights reaching almost 20-feet. At the same time, authorities in the area warned of multiple mass prison breaks.

Chief security minister Wiranto said on Monday the government was trying to meet survivors’ immediate needs and would accept offers of global help.

The extent of the devastation caused by an quake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi should become clearer on Tuesday as rescuers push into remote areas that have been out of contact for more than three days. Authorities have prioritized the immediate bu‌r‌ial‌ of the d‌ea‌d‌ to prevent any disease outbreak caused by dec‌om‌pos‌ing bodies.

The magnitude 7.5 quake and the tsunami it generated struck Palu and nearby areas on central Sulawesi island. The impact washed away Palu’s 300-meter (328 yard) double-arched bridge, plunging cars into the water.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation but there are small pockets of religious minorities, including Christians, across the archipelago.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the final number of dead could be in the “thousands” as many regions have still not been reached.

With local hospitals crowded by hundreds of wounded, doctors were forced to treat the injured outside.

Survivors line up at a service station to get gasoline in Palu.

Five foreigners – three French, one South Korean and one Malaysian – were among the missing, Nugroho said.

Social worker Lian Gogali tweeted from the area that several villages on the west coast of Sulawesi were in desperate need of food, medicine and shelter and that road access was still limited.

The tsunami carried sand, mud and debris inland. Rescuers fear that thousands may be dead. Authorities and aid agencies feared the death toll of 844 would rise once they assessed the damage in those hard-to-reach places.

Thomas Lembong, chair of Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board, tweeted Monday morning that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo made the authorization.

He said he had ordered the national search and rescue agency to send more police and soldiers into the affected districts, some cut off since Friday’s 7.5 magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami waves destroyed roads, triggered landslides and downed bridges.

In one area in Palu, residents believe that dozens of people could still be buried under their collapsed homes.

With thousands injured and hundreds dead, hospitals, many of which were damaged by the natural disaster, are overwhelmed with the influx of patients.

Inmates had fled from another overcapacity facility in Palu by breaking down its main door and another in Donggala, an area also hit by the disaster. “Our thoughts are with all the victims and first responders working around the clock to save lives”, Stylianides said.

The facility in Donggala was set on fire and all 343 inmates were now on the run, Utami said.

Adding to the anguish was a report by a German research center that developed a warning system used by Indonesia that the tsunami alert to some residents of Sulawesi failed after the quake hit on Friday.

National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho admitted that search teams were still struggling to reach and evacuate the worst hit areas in Sulawesi.