Fears of Disease after More Bodies Found

Fears of Disease after More Bodies Found

(AP/Kevin Frayer)

Indonesian villagers cover their faces as rescue volunteers retrieve bodies from the ground in an area severely hit by landslides following last Wednesday's earthquake in the Sumatran Island village of Jumanak, in Padang Pariaman, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. Officials said hundreds of people were buried and presumed dead in the hillside villages in Padang Pariaman district on the western coast of Sumatra island following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake last week.

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Monday, 5 October 2009 | 6:37 AM

KOMPAS.com - On Sunday, people were still digging at the landslide sites with wooden hoes, but the chances of finding anyone alive beneath the wet, compacted red earth appeared hopeless. For the survivors, aid was still urgently needed.

“We haven’t had any food except instant noodles for four days. There are lots of injured and we need medical help,” said Hery, an official in Sungai Limau. A noticeboard by his office listed the names of the dead, with ages ranging from one to 95.

Indonesia’s health minister, Siti Fadillah Supari, said the government estimated the death toll could reach 3,000, adding that disease was becoming a concern, especially in Padang city, where a pervading stench of decomposing bodies hangs over the ruined buildings.

“We are trying to recover people from the debris, dead or alive. We are trying to help survivors to stay alive. We are now focusing on minimising post-quake deaths,” she said.

Workers were due to begin spraying the wreckage with disinfectant, while at a public cemetery in Padang a pit had
been dug where 11 unidentified bodies retrieved from the ruined Ambacang Hotel were due to be buried on Monday.

The hotel, a Dutch colonial-era landmark, had been the focus of a huge rescue operation involving international teams with sniffer dogs, but by Sunday no one had been found alive.

Indonesia’s disaster agency said 20,000 buildings had been damaged in the quake, with most government offices destroyed. “Such widespread infrastructure damage will make it hard for the city to bounce back,” said Eko Suhadi, spokesman for the Indonesian Red Cross.

Padang lies on one of the most active faultlines in the world, but a geologist said the city had been ill-prepared and remained at risk of being wiped out in the next decade by a more powerful earthquake.

“I think Padang is totally unprepared. Generally, the existing structures are not designed to be quake-proof and that’s why the devastation is so great,” said Danny Hilman Natawidjaja from the Indonesian Science Institute.

Sumber : Reuters

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