Volunteers have begun burying victims of Indonesia’s deadly earthquake and tsunami in a mass grave.
The disaster devastated swathes of Sulawesi island and has left at least 844 people dead.
Four days after the natural disaster hit, some remote areas have yet to be contacted.
A lack of heavy lifting equipment is hampering rescuers’ attempts to reach people who remain alive in the ruins of collapsed buildings.
“Communication is limited, heavy machinery is limited… it’s not enough for the numbers of buildings that collapsed,” said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
Dozens of people are feared to be underneath the rubble of one hotel alone, the Roa-Roa in the devastated coastal resort of Palu.
Yenni Suryani, of Catholic Relief Services, said aid agencies were struggling to get staff into affected areas as the main airport at Palu was damaged, landslides had cut road links and “power is out almost everywhere”. Read more
