Rescue Efforts Intensify after 3,300 Killed in Indonesia Quake

28/05/2006| IslamWeb

Rescue workers are searching for survivors from the earthquake in central Indonesia that killed more than 3,300 people and left 200,000 homeless.
A day after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia's main island of Java, grieving relatives buried their dead, hospitals overflowed with bloodied and bruised casualties, and aid workers rushed in food and medical supplies.
With whole villages reduced to rubble, the death toll was expected to climb as rescuers dug to reach those trapped or dead under the wreckage of their homes following the nation's worst catastrophe since the 2004 Asian tsunami.
Tens of thousands spent the night without shelter, with the Indonesian Red Cross saying at least 200,000 people had been displaced.
Others, fearing more aftershocks, set up makeshift shelters along rural roads or in their yards.
Power remained out across much of southern Java, hampering rescue efforts.
Officials said the death toll stood at 3,340, with 2,615 people killed in Yogyakarta province and 725 lives lost in the Klaten district of neighbouring Central Java province.
More than 10,000 people were injured and the number could be far higher, Vice President Yusuf Kalla told the BBC, saying that hospitals were struggling to cope.
"The medicine is not enough," he said, adding that some 5,000 Indonesian troops were expected to arrive in the quake zone's main city of Yogyakarta later in the day to help with the rescue efforts.
The injured were crammed inside hospitals but many lay wounded in car parks, either in hastily pitched tents or in the open air.
In an open field in flattened Bantul district south of Yogyakarta, some 750 soldiers prepared to join the relief effort. Dozens of trucks and jeeps were at the ready, and five large tents had been pitched.
The top priority in the hardest-hit district was to "evacuate victims still trapped in the rubble, using heavy equipment", said Gendut, a provincial health official there.
Dozens of army and civilian doctors and paramedics joined the effort to treat the injured. Scores of university students also volunteered for the relief effort.
As they distributed food, bottled water, tents, tarpaulins and baby kits to the affected population, Indonesian defence forces battled to repair cracks in Yogyakarta's airport runway to speed the arrival of humanitarian aid.
Several aftershocks shook the region, further terrifying residents who are afraid to return to their homes.
The affected area is in the shadow of Mount Merapi, a volcano rumbling with molten lava for weeks, and 20,000 people had already been staying in emergency shelters amid fears of a eruption.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono raced to the area, urging rescuers to work around the clock and ordering the military to evacuate victims as soon as possible.
"The first priority is to save lives," said Yudhoyono who was expected to spend several days in the area to oversee relief efforts.
The Jakarta government has earmarked 50 billion rupiah (5.5 million dollars) for relief operations around Yogyakarta, 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the capital Jakarta.
International aid agencies and foreign governments offered help.
"We have re-located staff to the earthquake zone and we are sending thousands of tents, tarpaulins, and lanterns, as well as water supply equipment,"UNICEF executive director Kathryn Donovan in a statement.
Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey and Norway despatched emergency medical teams to the stricken area.
Officials at both the Indonesian Red Cross and the     European Union's humanitarian aid service ECHO made urgent appeals for surgical teams, medication and blood to be rushed to the quake-hit area.
The United States, Canada, China, Britain and France were among the countries who offered aid.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Indonesian people as they comfort all those affected by this terrible disaster," US President George W. Bush said.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.
PHOTO CAPTION
A resident looks at his damaged house following an earthquake in Yogyakarta. As dawn broke over Indonesia's city of Yogyakarta, rescue workers searched for survivors of the 6.2 magnitude quake that killed at least 3,000 people.AFP