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Lacking supplies, Palu, Donggala residents 'help themselves' to fuel, goods after quake
Residents also helped themselves to clothes and other goods in damaged stores.
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The Floating Mosque or Argam Bab Al Rahman Mosque, which is located 30 meters from Talise Beach in Palu, Central Sulawesi, is seen inundated by sea water after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake and an ensuing tsunami struck the city on Friday. The bridge connecting the beach with the mosque was destroyed. (Courtesy of BNPB/-)
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undreds of residents in Palu, Central Sulawesi, are pumping fuel manually from gas stations around the city as none the city’s gas stations are in operation following the earthquake and tsunami that hit the city on Friday.
State news agency Antara reported on Sunday that since Saturday night, people in the provincial capital city as well as the nearby regency of Donggala, which was also affected by the disaster, are facing difficulties accessing electricity and fuel, as well as other supplies such as food.
Without electricity, residents have been forced to dismantle fuel storage units and pump fuel manually with hoses.
People can be seen waiting in line at a gas station on Jl. Moh Yamin, not too far from a camp in the Central Sulawesi governor residence’s yard, to take fuel for transportation and generators.
To handle the situation, state-owned oil and gas holding company Pertamina has set up an emergency aircraft fuel post in Palu and an emergency fuel terminal in Donggala.
A spokesperson from Pertamina said that the company was also working to set up another emergency fuel post in Palu.
Residents affected by the disaster are also in dire need of food and medicines as the quake and tsunami have paralyzed activities in the regions. Given that the regions have yet to receive enough aid, residents are helping themselves to fulfill their needs.
In a live TV report, residents were seen taking clothes and other goods from the heavily damaged Ramayana department store in Palu. At the same time, search and rescue team members were trying to clear the rubble to recover possible survivors trapped under the debris. No police or military personnel were apparent at the scene. (ris/kmt/evi)
