Indonesia calls off search for quake survivors

RESCUE workers called off the search yesterday for life under the rubble left by a massive earthquake, focusing instead on bringing aid to survivors in the towns and hills of western Indonesia, despite being hampered by torrential rains.

“The chances of survival while trapped without water and food under the rubble for so long are impossible from now,” said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency. “So we will speed up our search to find bodies and clean up the ruins with bulldozers.”

The death toll from Wednesday’s 7.6-magnitude temblor in Sumatra island is expected to be in the thousands, once the missing people are declared dead. The UN has said 1,100 people died, while the government puts the toll at 603.

Ignacio Leon, the head of the UN’s humanitarian agency in Indonesia, told reporters that the focus has shifted away from finding survivors.

The under-sea quake devastated 10 districts in the Western Sumatra province including the capital, Padang, a city of 900,000 people where scores of tall buildings, including hotels, a mall, mosques and schools came crashing down. In addition, the quake triggered huge landslides in the Pariaman district where entire villages were wiped out.

Government minister Aburizal Bakrie told reporters that $600 million (€409m) was needed to repair infrastructure. It had initially said $400m was needed, but raised the estimate after the scale of the disaster became clear.

Little aid has reached the remote communities in Pariaman as many roads and bridges were destroyed. Landslides also blocked many of the roads leading to villages and aid workers were seen scrambling to clear the road of dirt, boulders and trees.

One road ended at Kampung Dalam village. The rest of the way had caved in, forcing rescue teams from South Korea, France and Germany to camp there. Villages further up the road were now accessible only by foot.

Heavy rain since Sunday night triggered a landslide yesterday but no casualties were reported, according to Prakoso, the rescue agency spokesman. Most aid teams were forced to stay put in Padang because of the rain.

Authorities are using helicopters to airdrop aid and bring the wounded to hospitals, he said. Two helicopters have conducted six airdrops in isolated areas so far, delivering instantnoodles, blankets, milk and dry food, he said.

The Meteorological and Geophysics Agency warned the region could see strong winds and storms for the next two days.