Hopes end for buried Indonesians

5 Oct 2009, 8:15 pm   -   Source: AFP
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Indonesia has called off the search for quake survivors as efforts are made to hand out vital supplies and combat the risk of disease.

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Indonesia called off the search for survivors in the quake-hit city of Padang as officials sought to contain the risk of disease caused by thousands of trapped bodies.

Local officials and foreign specialists who rushed to Indonesia's Sumatra island after Wednesday's devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake said the aid effort had switched to relief and rebuilding.

The United Nations has said that at least 1,100 people were killed in the disaster, but estimates of the final toll range up to 5,000.

The official toll is 603 confirmed killed and 960 missing, presumably dead.

"The effort to find survivors in Padang was stopped last night but they are still going on outside Padang," Indonesian disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono told Agence France-Presse.

Rescue teams depart

Swiss Rescue spokesman Michel Mercier said his 115-strong team was packing up and preparing to go home.

"Nobody from the teams we know found a survivor, unfortunately. We recovered six bodies," he said.

Foreign aid and emergency teams continued to pour into Padang, bringing tonnes of vital medical supplies, drinking water and food for the tens of thousands of people made homeless by the quake.

Rubble in the city of one million people on the west coast of Sumatra island was being scoured for the vast number of bodies interred in the wreckage.

Rain a continued problem

Police helicopter pilots said driving rain was hampering missions to ferry supplies and medical equipment to remote villages that had been obliterated by landslides.

Health officials said they were racing against time to prevent outbreaks of disease caused by decomposing bodies and a lack of clean water.

"There is a concern that dirty water supplies can spread skin disease and other kinds of diseases. Flies on dead bodies can also spread bacteria to people," Health Ministry crisis centre head Rustam Pakaya said.

Reconstruction funds set aside

The government said it had set aside 6.0 trillion rupiah ($A712.29 million) for reconstruction in Padang, where most buildings have been damaged or completely destroyed, including hospitals and schools.

There are signs that the city was taking its first tentative steps on the long path to recovery.

Restaurants have been re-opening and teachers said they were trying to resume classes.

"I have been ordered by the governor to open the school again today, but only 60 students came out of 800," Padang teacher Karmila Suryani said.

Rising tension among survivors

Outside the city, aid was trickling into isolated hillside villages that were flattened in the quake or destroyed by the giant landslides.

But many survivors said they had received no aid at all and expressed anger at the authorities.

"This is a test from God and we accept it, but we're angry and sad that help hasn't come," said 50-year-old farmer's wife Simur, from the razed village of Koto Mambang.

"In our culture it's embarrassing to beg by the roadside but what choice do we have? We need to feed our children."

Teams from Japan, Germany, Russia and Singapore have set up mobile health clinics outside Padang with dozens of doctors and nurses treating patients.

"Because of unsanitary conditions and lack of clean water or disinfectant, even minor injuries sustained in a disaster can become life-threatening without medical attention," said the World Vision relief organisation.

Hundreds of Australians

Two hundred Australians are now assisting with the relief operations in Indonesia.

That includes 159 from the Australian Defence Force providing medical, engineering and logistics support, a 36-member urban rescue team from the Queensland fire and rescue service plus consular staff.

So far, no Australians or any other foreigners are among the dead or injured.

Parliamentary secretary for international development assistance Bob McMullan said 17 Australians remained unaccounted for, although there was no reason for particular concern.

The quake struck off Sumatra's west coast near Padang, on part of the so-called "Ring of Fire" system of faultlines and volcanoes that make Indonesia one of the most quake-prone countries in the world.

Another 5.5-magnitude earthquake rocked West Papua province in eastern Indonesia on Sunday but there were no reports of injuries. 

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