Rescuers save man trapped for five days
The Jakarta Post, Nias, Jakarta
Rescuers pulled out a quake survivor trapped in a collapsed house on Saturday, five days after an 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck the remote Nias island, where up to 2,000 are feared to have been crushed under their homes.
A rescue team tried to free the man after Indonesian soldiers picking through rubble in the Nias capital of Gunung Sitoli said they heard a voice.
"Help, I'm very weak. I need something to drink," the trapped man was quoted as saying by one of the soldiers.
AFP reported that Indonesian, Singaporean and Mexican rescuers managed to free the man, 40-year old Hendra Ho Keng, at around 5:30 p.m.
"He is suffering from abrasions, but his voice is strong," said a Singaporean civil defense official at the scene.
Around 1,500 Indonesian soldiers have been digging through the rubble of houses, but rescuers who pulled several survivors from buildings earlier this week had said there was virtually no hope of finding anyone else alive.
The U.N. has said that 1,300 people may have died in Gunung Sitoli alone, and there are concerns the death toll could rise as they reach isolated parts of the island that have been cut off by landslides and damage to roads. Deaths have also been reported on nearby islands.
The government confirmed the death toll so far at 424, and said that the figure would not surpass 500, which is far lower than its early estimate of 2,000.
Visiting Vice President Jusuf Kalla asserted there were no problems with the amount of food despite pleas and complaints from affected islanders over shortages.
"There is no problem with the amount of food. The problem lies in its distribution," Kalla told reporters after meeting with local officials.
He said the government was sending more ships and helicopters from the mainland and would try to restore the water supply there within a week.
Heavy rain and damaged roads have hampered relief and rescue efforts, but increasing numbers of relief personnel and supplies have begun to reach major parts of the wrecked island.
A village chief from the remote Banyak Islands, close to the quake's epicenter, said the islanders had suffered no casualties but were desperate for food and water even though 10 tons of rice was unloaded by a relief boat on Friday.
"We urgently need rice and drinking water," Lukman told Reuters. "The shops where all the rice and water were stored are now filled with salt water so we have no supplies left."
The Banyaks are a chain of 99 small islands, 30 of which are inhabited by about 6,000 people.
Meanwhile, an Australian medical ship backed by two helicopters arrived on Saturday to bolster the international aid efforts there.
"It is sad to have to come back to this region, but it is a good opportunity for Australia to help its Indonesian neighbors," said Lt. Col. Ian Spiers, an officer on the naval ship HMAS Kanimbla.
The two Sea King helicopters attached to the ship will ferry the seriously injured from Nias to the Kanimbla, which has a surgical theater, intensive care unit, X-ray equipment, pathology and post-operative care facilities. Medical teams from the ship also will go ashore to provide medical treatment.