Death toll soars as Indonesia struggles to help survivors
Three days after earthquake, the full extent of the disaster is still unknown
Palu — Indonesia scrambled on Monday to get help into quake-hit Sulawesi island as survivors streamed away from their ruined homes and accounts of devastation filtered out of remote areas, including the death of 34 children at a Christian camp. The confirmed death toll of 844 was certain to rise as rescuers reached devastated outlying communities hit on Friday by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami waves as high as 6m. Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the small city of Palu, 1,500km northeast of Jakarta. Hundreds more were feared buried in landslides that engulfed villages. Of particular concern is Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and close to the epicentre of the quake, and two other districts, where communication had been cut off. The four districts have a combined population of about 1.4-million. One woman was recovered alive from ruins overnight in the Palu neighbourhood of Balaroa, where a...
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