Foreign Rescue Teams Rushing to Indonesia as it Seeks Aid
As death toll in quake-hit Sumatra islands continue to rise, foreign emergency rescue teams are rushing to devastated regions of Indonesia for help.
According to reports, medical teams, search dogs, backhoes and emergency supplies are already pouring into Sumatra.
In Padang, capital of Western Sumatra and the worst affected city by quake and having a population of 900,000, rescue operations have been slowed by power blackouts and lack of heavy equipment to move massive slabs of collapsed concrete buildings.
Authorities have put the death toll in Wednesday’s 7.6-magnitude-quake at 770 people, but warned that it could soar up as thousands are still believed to be beried underneath debris.
However, John Holmes, UN humanitarian chief, said that there are “many hundreds” of injured and the death toll could top 1,100.
Most of the deaths have been reported in the coastal city of Padang, where at least 500 buildings were toppled by the quake.
In the meantime, Health Minister Siti Sadilah Supari has appealed for overseas aid for digging out those still trapped in wreckage.
The United States has pledged $300,000 in immediate aid, plus another three million dollars for later. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he was “deeply moved” by the suffering and loss of life after the earthquake.
