Aid reaches Indonesia quake victims, as rescue effort intensifies
- At least 84 people died and thousands are homeless after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit Mamuju and Majene on Sulawesi island on Friday
- Medical workers are battling exhaustion and the risk of Covid-19 as they tend to the hundreds of injured people
More rescuers and volunteers were deployed in the hardest-hit city of Mamuju and the neighbouring district of Majene on Sulawesi island, where the magnitude 6.2 quake struck early on Friday, said Raditya Jati, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s spokesperson.
He said a total of 73 people died in Mamuju and 11 in Majene, and about 27,850 survivors were moved to shelters. Nearly 800 people were injured, with more than half of them still receiving treatment for serious injuries.
“There are probably some people still trapped under the rubble,” search and rescue agency spokesman Yusuf Latif said on Monday.
Water, which has been in short supply, as well as food and medical supplies were being distributed from trucks. The military said it sent five planes carrying rescue personnel, food, medicine, blankets, field tents and water tankers.