Iran Press- Asia/ Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency, said in a news conference Sunday that most of the deaths were in the badly hit city of Palu, with just 11 deaths reported so far from the town of Donggala reported CNBC.
Rescuers have been trickling into Palu, but Donggala and some of the surrounding regions remain largely cut-off, with poor communications.
Officials continue to fear the worst and have braced for a fast-climbing death toll that could eventually be in the thousands.
“The death toll is believed to be still increasing since many bodies are buried under the wreckage and debris and many have not been reached,” Nugroho said. Photos on his Twitter page show bodies lined up in body bags, as police begin the grim task of identifying them and reporting the deaths to families.
Nugroho added: "The dead either drowned when the tsunami hit or were killed by collapsed buildings and rubble. Victims are being buried in mass graves, but all victims will later be given a proper burial."
A 7.5-magnitude earthquake triggered a massive tsunami on Friday evening, which crashed into Palu, Donggala and the surrounding settlements. Officials on Sunday shared chilling videos and photos on social media of land “liquefaction” in the wake of the disaster, where the soil turns into something akin to quicksand and drags buildings along with it.
The Head of Palu Penitentiary, Adhi Yan Ricoh, told Indonesian media that from 560 inmates at the prison, more than half escaped.
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