Rescuers save man trapped for five days
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.