Indonesia calls off search for life

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-05 18:05

Rescuers carry a body bag containing the decomposing bodies of residents buried in landslides caused by an earthquake in a village in Pariaman, Indonesia's West Sumatra province October 5, 2009. [Agencies]

PADANG, Indonesia: Rescue workers called off the search Monday for life under the rubble left by a massive earthquake, focusing instead on bringing aid to survivors in the towns and hills of western Indonesia, despite being hampered by torrential rains.

"The chances of survival while trapped without water and food under the rubble for so long are impossible from now," said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency. "So we will speed up our search to find bodies and clean up the ruins with bulldozers."

The death toll from Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude temblor in Sumatra island is expected to be in the thousands once the missing people are declared dead. The U.N. has said 1,100 people died, while the government puts the toll at 603.

Ignacio Leon, the head of the U.N.'s humanitarian agency in Indonesia, told the AP that the focus has now shifted away from finding survivors and "we are supporting the government now more in the relief side."

The undersea quake devastated 10 districts in the Western Sumatra province including the capital, Padang, a city of 900,000 people where scores of tall buildings, including hotels, a mall, mosques and schools came down crashing. In addition, the quake triggered huge landslides in the hills of Pariaman district where entire villages were wiped out.

Hiroaki Sano, head of the Japan Disaster Rescue Team, told the AP that international search and rescue teams were winding up operations and preparing to go back home.

"We got here quickly but we haven't found any survivors. The first 100 hours are crucial," he said.

Government minister Aburizal Bakrie told reporters that $600 million was needed to repair infrastructure. It had initially said $400 million was needed, but raised the estimate after the scale of the disaster became clear.

Little aid has reached the remote communities in Pariaman as many roads and bridges were destroyed. Landslides also blocked many of the roads leading to villages and an AP crew saw aid workers scrambling to clear the road of dirt, boulders and trees.

One road ended at Kampung Dalam village. The rest of the way had caved in, forcing rescue teams from South Korea, France and Germany to camp there. Villages further up the road were now accessible only by foot.

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