Up to 20 countries helping in tsunami-struck Indonesia
International efforts are gearing up, after the Indonesian government overcame a traditional reluctance to take foreign aid
Palu — International efforts to help survivors of Indonesia’s devastating earthquake and tsunami gathered pace on Thursday as concern grew for hundreds of thousands with little food and water, six days after disaster struck. Desperate residents on the west coast of Sulawesi island were scavenging for food in farms and orchards as the government struggled to overcome shortages of water, food, shelter and fuel in a disaster zone with no power and degraded communications. Chaos has loomed at times with angry people in the region’s main city of Palu, 1,500km north-east of Jakarta, looting shops and thronging its small airport, scrambling for any flight out. The official death toll from last Friday’s 7.5 magnitude quake has risen to 1,407, many killed by tsunami waves and landslides it triggered. Officials say the toll will rise. Most of the confirmed dead have come from Palu and losses in remote areas remain unknown. Communications are down and bridges and roads have been destroyed or b...
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