RESCUERS raced to pull survivors from collapsed buildings and deliver urgently needed food and water yesterday as strong aftershocks rattled earthquake-devastated islands in northern Indonesia.

Firefighters freed a man who was pinned for 36 hours in the wreckage of a collapsed building, as other earthquake survivors on Indonesia’s Nias island searched frantically for loved ones missing amid the rubble.

Officials estimate 1,000 people have died since Monday’s 8.7-magnitude quake, and said Indonesia would welcome foreign military help for its latest disaster.