UN pledges aid for Indonesian quake, tsunami victims

Trump offers condolences over deadly Indonesian quake

U.S. President Donald Trump offered his condolences Tuesday to his Indonesian counterpart over the recent deadly earthquake and tsunami on Sulawesi island.In a statement, the White House said Trump had a phone conversation with President Joko Widodo in which he expressed his condolences and wished a speedy recovery for the injured.Video: Mass looting spreads as residents of Indonesia's Palu wait desperately for aidTrump proposed to work closely with the Indonesian government to provide immediate assistance, the statement added.The death toll from the 7.4-magnitude earthquake and tsunami has risen to 1,347, according to the country’s Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).The disaster in Central Sulawesi could be Indonesia’s second-largest tragedy after the 2004 Aceh tsunami that killed more than 170,000 people.

At Indonesia hotel destroyed by quake, hunt for survivors goes on

In a tent next to the crumpled ruins of the Roa Roa hotel in Indonesia's quake-hit city of Palu, relatives and friends of guests believed to be under the rubble await news as a desperate rescue effort goes on in the intense heat.Four days after a 7.5 magnitude quake and tsunami struck the coastal town on Sulawesi island, only three people have been pulled out alive from the ruined hotel, and nine bodies have been recovered.About 50 people were believed to have been in the eight-storey building when the disaster struck.A search and rescue team is using acoustic detectors to try to pick up any sounds from trapped survivors, as well as concrete and metal cutters, and saws."We’re using sound detectors that can pick up voices and knocking. All this takes time but it’s for safety reasons, for survivors and for our own team," said rescue team head Agus Haryono.An earth digger and crane arrived only on Monday because of difficult road access."We suspect there are still some survivors trapped inside. We are working with that in mind at the moment,” said Haryono, as he pored over blueprints of the building.Among the group waiting for news, was Assegaf Umar, who was among a team of paragliders who had travelled to Palu to soar above its picturesque bay and steep green hillsides.Video: Mass looting spreads as residents of Indonesia's Palu wait desperately for aidUmar, who escaped harm because he was staying at a different hotel, was clinging to hope that some of his fellow paragliders staying at the hotel might still be found alive."Even though by this time, after such an event, the body's ability to endure is minimal ... we must remain optimistic," Umar told Reuters.The bodies of three of paragliders have been found, while another four, including a South Korean, were believed to missing beneath the rubble.Rescuers on Tuesday retrieved the body of Ardi Kurniawan, who was well known among international paragliders.Kurniawan had recently competed in the 2018 Asian Games held in Indonesia, and his team had won bronze medals at the 2017 and 2018 Paragliding World Accuracy Cup."We had gathered for a weekend festival and we were looking forward because this place is very beautiful and challenging. I am so sad that this happened," said Umar.The paragliders were in Palu for an annual festival in the capital of Central Sulawesi province, three days of arts, cultural events and sports.Indonesian leader says all quake victims must be found as toll rises above 1,200One paraglider who lost his life, 20-year-old Gleen Mononutu, posted a photo on social media of himself soaring near cloud-topped hills on Sept. 28, the day the earthquake struck, along with a map of a flight path over Palu.Another victim, Petra Mandagi, also posted a photograph of himself wearing an orange helmet and paragliding over Palu bay before disaster struck. It was unclear when the photo was taken."After bad weather and task stop yesterday, I can reach goal today," he said in the caption accompanying the pictures on Instagram.Mandagi's friends and family replied in the comment section of the last photo, asking about his whereabouts after the disaster. Later, many posted condolence messages."RIP Petra, a skydive mate, a good friend," said @ivykriyatavi.Death toll from Indonesia's quake, tsunami up to 1,234

Indonesian leader says all quake victims must be found as toll rises above 1,200

Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered more rescuers to be sent in to find victims of a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Tuesday as the official death toll rose above 1,200 and looting raised fears of growing lawlessness.Most of the dead have been from the small city of Palu, 1,500 km (930 miles) northeast of Jakarta, but some remote areas have been cut off since Friday's 7.5 magnitude quake triggered tsunami waves, leading to fears the toll could soar."There are some main priorities that we must tackle and the first is to evacuate, find and save victims who've not yet been found," Widodo told a government meeting to coordinate disaster recovery efforts on the west coast of Sulawesi island.He said he had ordered the national search and rescue agency to send more police and soldiers into the affected districts, some cut off by destroyed roads, landslides and downed bridges.The official death toll surged to 1,234, the national disaster agency said.The Red Cross said the situation was "nightmarish" and reports from its workers venturing into one cut-off area, Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and close to the epicentre, indicated it had been hit "extremely hard".Four badly hit districts have a combined population of about 1.4 million.Indonesia tsunami sensors missed huge waves: officialIndonesia: State of emergency in wake of quake, tsunamiIn Palu, tsunami waves as high as six metres (20 feet) smashed into the beachfront, while hotels and shopping malls collapsed in ruins and some neighbourhoods were swallowed up by ground liquefaction.Among those killed were 34 children at a Christian bible study camp, a Red Cross official said.The government has ordered aid supplies to be airlifted in but there's little sign of help on Palu's shattered streets and survivors appeared increasingly desperate.A Reuters news team saw a shop cleared by about 100 people, shouting, scrambling and fighting each other for items including clothes, toiletries, blankets and water.Many people grabbed diapers while one man clutched a rice cooker as he headed for the door. Non-essential goods were scattered on the floor amid shards of broken glass.At least 20 police were at the scene but did not intervene. The government has played down fears of looting saying disaster victims could take essential goods and shops would be compensated later.Indonesia is all too familiar with earthquakes and tsunamis. A quake in 2004 triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.It has said it would accept offers of international aid, having shunned outside help earlier this year when an earthquake struck the island of Lombok.Indonesia to accept international help after devastating quake and tsunamiIndonesia rushes aid to Sulawesi as death toll from quake, tsunami passes 1,203'Buried Fast'Rescuers in Palu held out hope they could still save lives."We suspect there are still some survivors trapped inside," the head of one rescue team, Agus Haryono, told Reuters at the collapsed seven-storey Hotel Roa Roa.About 50 people were believed to have been caught inside the hotel when it was brought down. About nine bodies have been recovered from the ruins and three rescued alive.Haryono pored over the hotel's blueprints, searching for possible pockets and a way through to them. A faint smell of decomposition hung in the air.Power has yet to be restored and aftershocks have rattled jangled nerves.A particular horror in several areas in and around Palu was liquefaction, which happens when soil shaken by an earthquake behaves like a liquid.About 1,700 houses in one neighbourhood were swallowed up, with hundreds of people believed buried, the national disaster agency said.Before-and-after satellite pictures show a largely built-up neighbourhood just south of Palu's airport seemingly wiped clean of all signs of life by liquefaction.Elsewhere, on the outskirts of Palu, lorries brought 54 bodies to a mass grave dug in sandy soil.Most of the bodies had not been claimed, a policeman said, but some relatives turned up to pay respects to loved ones at the 50-metre (165 ft) trench, where the smell of decomposition was overpowering."It's OK if he's buried in the mass grave, it's better to have him buried fast," said Rosmawati Binti Yahya, 52, whose husband was among those placed in the grave, before heading off to look for her missing daughter.More than 65,000 homes were damaged and more than 60,000 people have been displaced and are in need of emergency help, while thousands have been streaming out of stricken areas.Commercial airlines have struggled to restore operations at Palu's damaged airport but military aircraft have taken some survivors out.But thousands of people have been thronging the airport hoping for any flight out, and authorities have said a navy vessel capable of taking 1,000 people at a time would be deployed to help with the evacuation.Sulawesi is one of the archipelago nation's five main islands.Turkey first to reach Indonesian quake, tsunami victimsIndonesia says it needs more heavy equipment, rescuers in quake zone

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits an area affected by an earthquake at Petobo district, Palu, Central Sulawesi

Trump offers condolences over deadly Indonesian quake

At Indonesia hotel destroyed by quake, hunt for survivors goes on

Indonesian leader says all quake victims must be found as toll rises above 1,200