Indonesians dug a pit for a mass burial in the earthquake shattered city of Padang today, while in nearby hills villagers with wooden hoes clawed in the mud in a near-hopeless search for hundreds entombed by landslides.
Rescue teams combing the rubble of Padang said there was little hope of finding more survivors from a disaster that authorities say may have killed 3,000 people.
As relief workers pushed deeper inland from the coastal city, they found entire villages obliterated by landslides and homeless survivors desperate for food, water and shelter.
�I am the only one left,� said Zulfahmi, 39, who was in the village of Kapalo Koto, near Pariaman, about 40km ( north of Padang, with 36 family members when Wednesday�s 7.6 magnitude quake struck.
�My child, my wife, my mother-in-law, they are all gone. They are under the earth now.�
Indonesia�s Health minister, Siti Fadillah Supari, told Reuters by telephone that the government estimated the death toll could reach 3,000, adding that disease was becoming a concern, especially in Padang city, where a pervading stench of decomposing bodies hangs over the ruined buildings.
Collapsed Buildings
�We are trying to recover people from the debris, dead or alive. We are trying to help survivors to stay alive. We are now focusing on minimising post-quake deaths,� she said.
In Padang, a port city of 900,000 that was once a centre of the spice trade, rescuers picked through collapsed buildings to look for perhaps thousands of people still buried.
�We are doing final checks before we can declare the rescue phase is over. We think it�s the end of the rescue phase,� said Briton Peter Old, of Rapid UK.
�There�s very little chance of finding people alive.�
Source: Reuters
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
Comments