Sand is placed over dead bodies of the victims of the earthquake and tsunami during a mass burial at the Poboya Cemetery in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, October 2, 2018.
The death toll from the 7.4-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Indonesia has risen to 1,347, the country’s disaster management agency BNPB announced on Tuesday.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, an agency spokesman, said that the death toll from the disaster in Palu on the island of Sulawesi and Donggala was likely to rise given that rescuers have yet to identify or find many victims, or even reach some disaster-stricken areas.
According to him, around 800 people in hospitals are seriously injured and some 62,000 people have been displaced in 24 camps around the region.
“As many as 99 people are still missing,” he said.
Most of the deaths resulted from people being buried under rubble or being struck by the tsunami, he said.
Meanwhile, there are reports of looting incidents in the quake-hit cities of Palu and Dongala.
Speaking to an Anadolu Agency reporter at the site, Rosadi, a military official in Pasangkayu, who is responsible for the security of the aid convoys, said an aid convoy was looted on Monday.
He said that there was a lack of security personnel in the area.
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
At Indonesia hotel destroyed by quake, hunt for survivors goes on
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 leader says all quake victims must be found as toll rises above 1,200
Food, water needed
Victims of the disaster are having difficulty finding necessities such as food and drinking water.
Earthquake victims in Palu set up tents in front of city hall in an attempt to get aid quicker but are also hoping for foreign support.
Ismanto Acho, an earthquake victim in front of city hall, said he has been in the area with his family since Friday.
“We drink tap water because we can’t find drinking water. We can’t find food, and we're trying to fill ourselves through ready-made pasta sent through aid,” he said.
Atika, another quake victim, said their main need is drinking water. She said she wants to return to her normal life as soon as possible.
People in Palu and Donggala are unable to find gasoline. Regional officials, as well as search and rescue teams in the area, are bringing in their gasoline from outside the region.
Local people are queuing in front of petrol stations and waiting for hours.
Turkey is the first country in the world to respond a plea from the Indonesian government to provide humanitarian and emergency support to the quake-hit island of Sulawesi. 
Turkey first to reach Indonesian quake/tsunami victims
Aftershocks continue
Search and rescue work in collapsed buildings throughout the region is ongoing.
In Palu and Donggala, aftershocks are raising fears of a new earthquake, with some people whose houses were left undamaged by the quake afraid to spend the night in their homes.
In Palu’s Balaroa neighborhood, where a residential area of around 200 families was totally destroyed, operations by national search and rescue agency Basarnas are ongoing.
Tanvir, a resident of Balaroa, told Anadolu Agency that he was not in the village when the earthquake hit.
“I ran home after the earthquake and saw my house was destroyed. I rescued my two children, my wife, and my mother-in-law from the wreckage,” he said.
Tanvir said that hundreds of other people were still under the debris.
Retno Budiharto of Basarnas said that two people were rescued and three bodies were recovered from the Roa Hotel, which was demolished in the quake.
“There are around 30 people under the debris according to hotel records. We continue our search and rescue work,” he added.
Residents in the earthquake and tsunami-ravaged city of Palu on Indonesia's Sulawesi Island have turned to looting due to a lack of necessities and humanitarian relief.
Mass looting spreads as residents of Indonesia's Palu wait desperately for aid
Turkey to send humanitarian aid to region
"An additional team of us are on their way to the region. The materials that will be sent by Turkish Airlines (THY) cargo plane will land on Makassar City, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, and then will be transferred to the disaster area," Turkish Red Crescent head Kerem Kinik told Anadolu Agency.
The infrastructure is heavily damaged and 600,000 earthquake victims are in need of help, according to the organization’s Indonesian team head Ali Akgul.
On Tuesday evening, a humanitarian aid-laden cargo plane will depart for Indonesia, including a relief supply kit prepared upon President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's instructions.
Meanwhile, Turkish Diyanet Foundation's Overseas Humanitarian Aid expert Abdullah Uçak, who is currently in the disaster area, stressed the need for food and water in the region.
Uçak also mentioned the energy and communication problem in the region, adding interruption in the internet network.