Indonesia hunts for remaining earthquake survivors
The death toll from a powerful earthquake on Indonesia's Sulawesi island has jumped to 60, authorities said Sunday, with thousands left homeless as rescuers raced to find anyone still alive under mountains of rubble.
Hospitals were overrun with hundreds of injured after the 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours of Friday, triggering panic among residents of the island, which was hit by a 2018 quake-tsunami disaster that killed thousands.
Rescuers have spent days hauling corpses from beneath crumpled buildings in Mamuju, a city of 110,000 people in West Sulawesi province, where a hospital was flattened. Others were killed south of the city.
The official death toll stood at 60 - up from 46 on Saturday - but the count could still climb.
Aerial images from the devastated seaside city showed buildings reduced to a tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete, including the regional governor's office.
It was unclear how many more bodies could be under the debris, or if there was anyone still trapped but alive more than two days after the disaster. Authorities have not given a figure for how many survivors have been rescued. A pair of young sisters plucked from under the mass of concrete debris were treated in hospital.
Meanwhile, corpses were recovered from under a collapsed hospital, while five members of a family of eight were found dead in the crumpled remains of their home.
The thousands left homeless by the quake took to makeshift shelters, many little more than tarpaulin-covered tents filled with whole families, that were lashed by heavy monsoon downpours.
Many survivors are unable to return to their destroyed homes, or were too scared to go back, fearing a tsunami sparked by aftershocks, which are common after strong earthquakes.
Hospitals were overrun with hundreds of injured after the 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours of Friday, triggering panic among residents of the island, which was hit by a 2018 quake-tsunami disaster that killed thousands.
Rescuers have spent days hauling corpses from beneath crumpled buildings in Mamuju, a city of 110,000 people in West Sulawesi province, where a hospital was flattened. Others were killed south of the city.
The official death toll stood at 60 - up from 46 on Saturday - but the count could still climb.
Aerial images from the devastated seaside city showed buildings reduced to a tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete, including the regional governor's office.
It was unclear how many more bodies could be under the debris, or if there was anyone still trapped but alive more than two days after the disaster. Authorities have not given a figure for how many survivors have been rescued. A pair of young sisters plucked from under the mass of concrete debris were treated in hospital.
Meanwhile, corpses were recovered from under a collapsed hospital, while five members of a family of eight were found dead in the crumpled remains of their home.
The thousands left homeless by the quake took to makeshift shelters, many little more than tarpaulin-covered tents filled with whole families, that were lashed by heavy monsoon downpours.
Many survivors are unable to return to their destroyed homes, or were too scared to go back, fearing a tsunami sparked by aftershocks, which are common after strong earthquakes.
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