Indonesia quake, tsunami toll jumps to 1,234: Disaster agency

The confirmed death toll from an earthquake and tsunami on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island has risen to 1,234, from 844, the national disaster agency said on Tuesday.
A 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday triggered tsunami waves as high as six meters (20 feet), which ravaged the small city of Palu, on the west coast of Sulawesi.
Al Jazeera’s Jamela Alindogan, reporting from Makassar, a port city in eastern Sulawesi, said help must come from abroad as the scale of the devastation has left everyone struggling to cope.
“If you look at the level of devastation caused by the disaster, we see that everybody is affected by it, police officers, rescue workers and even medical workers have also become victims of it,” she said.
“At this point what is important is to clear logistics in order for aid to come in, all the roads coming in to the areas affected must be covered.”
Thousands need emergency help
Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced and are in need of emergency help, while thousands have been streaming out of the stricken areas.
Dozens of children were killed after being buried by a mudslide that slammed into their church with more than 50 others still missing.
Rescuers discovered the bodies of 34 students buried in the landslide, Indonesia Red Cross spokeswoman Aulia Arriani told AFP news agency on Tuesday.
“A total of 34 bodies were found by the team,” Arriani said, adding 86 students had initially been reported missing from the Bible camp at the Jonooge Church Training Centre in Sigi Biromaru district.
Rescuers have yet to reach many affected areas leading to fears the death toll could rise again.
Nigel Timmins, Oxfam’s humanitarian director, said it could take weeks to realize the full extent of the disaster.
“It’s not just a wall of water, it’s a wall of water full of debris: concrete, trees, cars – everything being churned around like a giant cement mixer. It’s like a huge bulldozer that clears away the land and afterward you’re left with complete chaos,” Timmins told Al Jazeera.
About 1,700 houses in one Palu neighborhood were swallowed up, with hundreds of people believed buried, the national disaster agency said.
There was also mounting concern over Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and close to the epicenter, and two other districts – with a combined population of about 1.4 million.
Initial reports from Red Cross rescuers who had reached the outskirts of Donggala district were chilling.
“The situation in the affected areas is nightmarish,” Jan Gelfand, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) office in Jakarta, said in a statement.
“The city of Palu has been devastated and first reports out of Donggala indicate that it has also been hit extremely hard by the double disaster,” Gelfand said.