Search for victims of Indonesia disaster extended; three dead in Java quake
(VOVWORLD) - Indonesia on Thursday extended for a day the search for victims of a 7.5 magnitude quake and tsunami on Sulawesi island at the request of relatives of the many still missing, the national disaster mitigation agency said.
 Palu city in Central Sulawesi province after the earthquakes and tsunami (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
Some 10,000 rescuers toiled on what would have been the final day of searching the ruins of the seaside city of Palu, hit on Sept. 28 by the double disaster, as relatives hoped their loved ones could be found and given a proper burial. But a spokesman for the disaster agency told a briefing in Jakarta the search would go on until Friday evening. The official death toll was raised to 2,073. No one knows how many people have yet to be found in Palu’s ruined neighborhoods but it could be as many as 5,000, the disaster agency says.
A magnitude 6 quake struck off Java and Bali islands early on Thursday, killing three people in Java, damaging buildings and sparking panic.