The number of victims caused by the earthquake and tsunami has soared to 832 deaths. The authorities fear that it will rise as rescuers are struggling to reach people that are cut off from communications and rescue workers.
Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of two hotels and a mall in the city of Palu, which was hit by waves as high as six metres (20 feet) following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday (Sep 28).
With most of the confirmed deaths from Palu, authorities are bracing for much worse as reports filter in from outlying areas, in particular, Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and closer to the epicentre of the quake, and two other districts.
National disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference the affected area was bigger than initially thought, though rescuers only had good access to one of four affected districts - Palu.
"We haven't received reports from the three other areas. Communication is still down; power is still out. We don't know for sure what is the impact," he said as cited from Reuters.
"There are many areas where the search and rescue teams haven't been able to reach," Nugroho said, adding that teams needed heavy equipment to move broken concrete.
National search and rescue agency chief Muhammad Syaugi told Reuters rescuers were flying to Donggala by helicopter.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government had allocated 560 billion rupiah ($37.58 million) for disaster recovery, media reported.
Sources: Reuters, The Star Online