Workers used backhoes Tuesday to demolish buildings damaged in Indonesian's recent
earthquake that left hundreds, if not thousands, dead, while food and emergency
supplies were air-lifted to remote areas cut off by landslides.
The search for survivors was halted Monday – five days after the
7.6-magnitude quake struck off of the coast of West
Sumatra. Aid workers are now focused on caring for the hundreds of
thousands left homeless.
Crews with heavy digging equipment tore down the collapsed remains of the
six-story Ambacang Hotel in the regional capital, Padang, where as many as 200
people are believed to have died, and were flattening several other damaged
buildings. Rather than pull out the bodies that cannot be reached, they are burying
them under the rubble.
Six helicopters shuttled aid to the isolated hillside villages of the Padang
Pariaman district, where landslides buried more than 600 people, said Ade
Edward, head of operations control at West Sumatra's
Center for Disaster Management.
"We have stopped looking for living survivors and are maximizing the
use of heavy equipment," he said. "We hope to clear the rubble in two
weeks so we can start reconstruction."
When all the bodies are counted and the missing declared dead, the death
toll from last Wednesday's quake is expected to be in the thousands. The
official toll is currently 625.
On Monday, hundreds of children went back to class in schools set up in
tents. UNICEF has provided school supplies in three of the 10 affected
districts and was shipping 220 more tents which fit up to 60 students each.
In the old market area, stalls were full of food and bustling with residents
stocking up on vegetables, fruit and fish.
Rows of stalls were still smoking from fires that broke out after the quake,
possibly from electrical short circuits. Shopkeepers working beside cracked
walls and teetering buildings swept up the mess of concrete and broken glass.
The city of 900,000 resembled a sprawling demolition site with houses, mosques,
schools, a mall and hotels brought down.
"It's all gone – my store, it all burned down," said Lucille
Samsir, who owned a small shop. "It will take years for us to rebuild. ...
Many women died here in the marketplace. We have to recover. We must."
Emergency workers faced an uphill battle trying to reach remote communities
in the hills of Pariaman where whole villages were wiped out by landslides. The
force of the quake gouged out mountainsides and dumped tons of mud, boulders
and trees, burying hundreds of people alive.
Pariaman is only 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Padang, but many villages in the district
have remained inaccessible because landslides have blocked roads. Heavy rain
since Sunday and thick mud made it difficult for aid workers to reach the
stricken areas, said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the Indonesian Search and
Rescue Agency.
One road ended at Kampung Dalam village, after which it had caved in,
forcing rescue teams from South Korea,
France and Germany to camp
there and hike to villages farther away.
Prakoso said the rain caused another landslide on Monday but no casualties
were reported.
The Meteorological and Geophysics Agency warned the region could see strong
winds and storms for the next two days.
Authorities used helicopters to airdrop aid and bring the wounded to
hospitals, Prakoso said. Two helicopters conducted six airdrops in isolated areas,
delivering instant noodles, blankets, milk and dry food, he said.
It was unclear precisely how many people are without shelter, but more than
88,000 houses were flattened in the 10 affected districts, according to the UN
and Indonesia's
Disaster Management Agency. Another 100,000 public buildings were damaged.
Government minister Aburizal Bakrie said US$600 million was needed to repair
infrastructure. Officials initially said $400 million was needed, but raised
the estimate after the scale of the disaster became clear.
Hiroaki Sano, head of the Japan Disaster Rescue Team, said 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.
