Indonesia Quake-Tsunami: Official death toll of 844 expected to rise

World
Europe

02:15

We begin in Southeast Asia, where the death toll from a powerful earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has increased to 844, while 90 remain missing. Most of the deaths took place in the city of Palu. Nearly 60,000 people have been displaced and are in need of emergency help. WANG TONGXUAN has more.

A catastrophe without mercy...

Local hospitals are overwhelmed by the inflow of injured. Survivors are battling thirst and hunger, with food and clean water in short supply.

ITO KUTRA PALU RESIDENT "There's no signal or even gas, everyone is queuing for this and especially for food supplies. It's very limited, you know?"

Impassable roads, downed power lines and phone outages, rescue efforts have been hampered by a lack of heavy machinery, severed transport links and the scale of the damage.

Officials fear the death toll will rise into thousands as rescue teams reach remote areas that have been out of contact for more than three days. Power has yet to be restored in the stricken area. The state power company is working to turn electricity back on as soon as possible, while the government is transporting four thousand liters of fuel to the quake zone to help with shortages.

Local airports remain closed to commercial flights. The chief security minister said a navy vessel would be sent to evacuate survivors, and international aid will be airlifted to Palu.