Palu, OCT 01 : Indonesian volunteers dug mass graves for more than 1,000 bodies on Monday after a quake and tsunami devastated swathes of Sulawesi, as authorities — struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster — appealed for international help.
Indonesia is no stranger to natural calamities and Jakarta wanted to show that it was able to deal with a catastrophe that has killed at least 832 people so far according to the official toll.
But four days on some remote areas have yet to be contacted, medicines are running out and rescuers are struggling with a shortage of heavy equipment to reach desperate victims calling out from the ruins of collapsed buildings.
In response, President Joko Widodo opened the door to the dozens of international aid agencies and NGOs lined up to provide live-saving assistance.
“Last night, President @jokowi authorized us to accept international help for urgent disaster-response & relief,” senior government official Tom Lembong wrote on Twitter, asking rescuers to contact him directly via his account and email.
