TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Thousands homeless following quake
Leveled: Acehnese youth carry an injured relative on a stretcher as they walk past a building destroyed by Tuesdayâs earthquake in Blang Mancung, Aceh, on Thursday
Change Size
Leveled: Acehnese youth carry an injured relative on a stretcher as they walk past a building destroyed by Tuesdayâs earthquake in Blang Mancung, Aceh, on Thursday. The death toll from the earthquake has reached 30. Police and soldiers are searching the debris for another 12 people still unaccounted for, officials said. (AP/Binsar Bakkara) (AP/Binsar Bakkara)
L
span class="inline inline-none">Leveled: Acehnese youth carry an injured relative on a stretcher as they walk past a building destroyed by Tuesday's earthquake in Blang Mancung, Aceh, on Thursday. The death toll from the earthquake has reached 30. Police and soldiers are searching the debris for another 12 people still unaccounted for, officials said. (AP/Binsar Bakkara)
Thousands of quake victims in Bener Meriah and Central Aceh regencies, Aceh, are still taking refuge in evacuation tents and temporary shelters because they have nowhere else to go.
'Almost all the damaged houses are uninhabitable. We have to build new ones,' Saifudin of Blang Mancung village in Central Aceh said on Thursday.
Other residents erected their own makeshift tents in the yards of their homes.
'We can at least take care of our houses to prevent unwanted events such as burglary,' said Agus Salim of Blang Mancung Bawah village.
Agus and his family were reluctant to begin repairs to their house to prevent it collapsing.
'We are waiting for the situation to calm and return to normal with no more aftershocks, which are extremely frightening,' he said.
The Aceh Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBA) recorded that some 6,500 people in both regencies were still being accommodated at 60 shelters provided by the government.
'We have also prepared a number of tents which the refugees can use,' said BPBA chief Jarwansyah.
The main evacuation command post listed 28 people dead in both regencies. However the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a media statement that there were 30 fatalities; 12 in Bener Meriah and 18 in Central Aceh.
Sutopo added that 12 people were still missing and 275 had been injured.
The quake victims have started to receive supplies, including food, blankets and baby supplies, both from the government and private donors.
Entering the third day of the disaster emergency-response period, eight villages in both regencies remain isolated after landslides blocked access roads.
Rescue workers are still working to clear the roads to reach the villages with a total population of some 5,000 residents.
The villages are Bah, Bergang, Burlah, Karang Ampar, Kekuyang, Pantan Penyo, Pantan Reduk and Serempah.
Rescue workers, who consist of military personnel (TNI), the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), university students and other individuals are also still working to find victims of landslides triggered by the quakes.
TNI evacuation team leader, Lt. Col. Budi Hartono, said it was estimated that there were nine people buried and yet to be recovered in Bah village, Ketol district, in Bener Meriah.
The village is the gateway to the other seven villages where it is feared dozens more residents may be buried. 'Difficult terrain and unstable hillsides have made evacuation efforts difficult,' Budi said.
'We tried to reach the location on Wednesday but failed because of damaged roads and unstable
conditions.'
These conditions, he added, prevented the mobilization of heavy equipment.
Bah and Serempah are thought to be among the worst affected areas as both villages subsided into the Peusangan River, Antara news agency reported.
'They are located on mountain slopes so when the quake hit, the land slumped into the river,' volunteer Basuki Rahmat said.
Central Aceh Regent Nasarudin said that Serempah villagers would be relocated as the village was no longer suitable for settlement.
Landslide debris blocked the Peusangan River inundating Serempah and affecting 200 villagers, Ketol district head M. Saleh told Antara.
