Time running out to rescue rubble trapped survivors in Indonesia as Australia sends $5M in aid

AS time is running out to rescue rubble trapped survivors in the Indonesia quake and tsunami tragedy, Australia has committed to sending $5 million in aid.

Friday’s disaster in central Sulawesi has killed nearly 1350 people according to disaster response officials, prompting Australia to send emergency healthcare support to the region.

More than 50 Australian medical professionals will be sent to Indonesia to help in the aftermath, as part of the $5m package.

Camera IconIndonesian women pray in front of their home, partially collapsed, in Palu.Picture: AFP

“We will be working very closely with the Indonesian government to make sure that the support we are providing is highly targeted,” Defence Minister Marise Payne told reporters in Washington.

It comes as trucks carrying food for desperate survivors rolled in with a police escort to guard against looters.

The United Nations and relief agencies have now sent in more reinforcements to help the decimated region.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said on Tuesday in New York that “needs are vast” for the devastated country, with Indonesians urgently requiring shelter, clean water, food, fuel and emergency medical care.

Camera IconLocals look on as debris is cleared from the area.Picture: Getty Images

In the days after the magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami struck, supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine had yet to reach the hardest-hit areas outside Palu, the largest city that was heavily damaged. Many roads in the earthquake zone are blocked and communications lines are down.

“We feel like we are stepchildren here because all the help is going to Palu,” said Mohamad Taufik, 38, from the town of Donggala, where five of his relatives are still missing.

“There are many young children here who are hungry and sick, but there is no milk or medicine.”

Camera IconPeople wait near a cordon as emergency services work to recover bodies.Picture: Getty Images, Getty

Camera IconPhotographs of a family hang from a metal frame in the rubble of houses that were destroyed by an earthquake, in Palu, Indonesia.Picture: Getty Images

National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the death toll was expected it to rise.

Hundreds of other people have been injured, and scores of uncounted bodies could still be buried in collapsed buildings in Sigi and Balaroa under quicksand-like mud caused by Friday’s quake.

More than 25 countries have offered assistance after Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appealed for international help. Little of that, however, has reached the disaster zone, and increasingly desperate residents grabbed food and fuel from damaged stores and begged for help.

“Australia has expertise, it has resources in particular areas,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Perth.

“We’re looking to see how we can best fit the need to ensure that we can do whatever we can to support our Indonesian friends and neighbours in this time of very genuine need.”

An aircraft carrying 12,000 litres of fuel had arrived. and trucks with food were on the way with police escorts to guard against looters. Many gas stations were inoperable either because of quake damage or from people stealing fuel, Mr Nugroho said.

Camera IconA mosque that was previously partially submerged sits at an angle after it was knocked off its foundations by the quake.Picture: Getty Images, Getty

Camera IconPeople carry salvaged items through the rubble.Picture: Getty Images

‘PAY ATTENTION TO DONGGALA’

The frustration of waiting for days without help has angered some survivors. “Pay attention to Donggala, Mr. Jokowi. Pay attention to Donggala,” yelled one resident in a video broadcast on local TV, referring to the president. “There are still a lot of unattended villages here.”

The town’s administrative head, Kasman Lassa, all but gave residents permission to take food — but nothing else — from stores.

“Everyone is hungry and they want to eat after several days of not eating,” Lassa said on local TV. “We have anticipated it by providing food, rice, but it was not enough. There are many people here. So, on this issue, we cannot pressure them to hold much longer.”

Nearly 62,000 people have been displaced from their homes, Mr Nugroho said.

Most of the attention has been focused so far on Palu, which has 380,000 people and is easier to reach than other hard-hit areas.

Camera IconA man tries to ride his salvaged motorcycle through the ruins.Picture: Getty Images

UN spokesman Mr Haq said that relief agencies are on the ground or en route. He said the agencies are working closely with the government to provide technical support.

He told reporters that water is the main issue because most of the water supply infrastructure has been damaged.

He said the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs has asked the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, to send social workers to the affected area to support children who are alone or became separated from their families.

Mr Haq said the World Health Organisation warned that a lack of shelter and damaged water sanitation facilities could lead to outbreaks of communicable diseases.

Camera IconA mosque in the aftermath.Picture: Getty Images, Getty

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