Missing toll soars to 5,000
The number of people believed missing from the quake and tsunami that struck Indonesia's Palu city has soared to 5,000, an official said yesterday, an indication that far more may have perished in the twin disaster than the current toll.
Indonesia's disaster agency say they have recovered 1,763 bodies so far from the 7.5-magnitude and subsequent tsunami that struck Sulawesi on September 28.
But there are fears that two of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods in Palu -- Petobo and Balaroa -- could contain thousands more victims, swallowed up by ground that engulfed whole communities in a process known as liquefaction.
"Based on reports from the (village) heads of Balaroa and Petobo, there are about 5,000 people who have not been found," agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told reporters Sunday.
Nugroho said the search for the unaccounted would continue until October 11, at which point they would be listed as missing, presumed dead.
The figure drastically increases the estimates for those who disappeared when the disaster struck 10 days ago. Officials had initially predicted some 1,000 people were buried beneath the ruins of Palu.
Petobo, a cluster of villages in Palu, was virtually wiped out by the powerful quake and wall of water that devastated Palu. Much of it was sucked whole into the ground as the vibrations from the quake turned soil to quicksand.
HAITI QUAKE KILLS 11
A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the northwest coast of Haiti late yesterday, killing at least 11 people, injuring more than 130 others and damaging homes in the Caribbean nation, authorities said.
The epicenter of the quake was located about 19 kilometers northwest of the city of Port-de-Paix, the US Geological Survey reported.
The quake, which was felt across the country, struck at 8:10 pm (0010 GMT Sunday) at a shallow depth of 11.7 kilometers.
Two minor aftershocks were registered, the agency said, adding that no tsunami warning was issued in connection with the quake activity.
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