International efforts to help survivors of Indonesia's devastating earthquake and tsunami have gathered pace as concern grew for hundreds of thousands with little food and water, six days after disaster struck.
Desperate residents on the west coast of Sulawesi island were scavenging for food in farms and orchards as the government struggled to overcome shortages of water, food, shelter and fuel in a disaster zone with no power and degraded communications.
Chaos has loomed at times with angry people in the region's main city of Palu, 1,500km northeast of Jakarta, looting shops and thronging its small airport, scrambling for any flight out.
The official death toll from last Friday's 7.5 magnitude earthquake has risen to 1,407, many killed by tsunami waves and landslides it triggered. Officials say the toll will rise.
Most of the confirmed dead have come from Palu and losses in remote areas remain unknown.
Communications are down and bridges and roads have been destroyed or blocked by slips.
However, international efforts to help are gearing up after the government overcame a traditional reluctance to take foreign aid.
Flattened by a tsunami: Indonesian village 'wiped off the map' pic.twitter.com/jZ73FiLxys
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 4, 2018
"The government of Indonesia is experienced and well-equipped in managing natural disasters, but sometimes, as with all other countries, outside help is also needed," United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said in a statement.
He announced an allocation of $15m.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was appealing for $22m to help Indonesia.
The United States had provided initial funding, deployed government disaster experts and was working to determine what other help could be given, the State Department said earlier this week.
Some aid from Britain and Australia was also due to arrive today.
In all, about 20 countries have offered help, Indonesia has said.
In Palu, some shops and banks have reopened and a major mobile phone network was back into operation.
A sense of calm seemed to be returning with orderly queues at petrol stations after the arrival of fuel shipments.
The Governor of Indonesia’s Central Bank Governor played down the overall impact on Southeast Asia’s biggest economy of the disaster in Sulawesi, and of earlier deadly quakes on the tourist island of Lombok.
"This is really a challenging and difficult time for Indonesia and for all of us, but we are united and we stand strong and we are confident to withstand this difficult time," the Governor said.
Bank Indonesia was helping to restore payment systems and some cash machines were working again in Palu as banks reopened, he said.
Indonesia has long been known to be vulnerable to quakes and tsunamis.
In 2004, a quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.
Safety measures implemented after that disaster, including tsunami warning systems, failed on Friday for various reasons, including government neglect, a lack of funding and vandalism.
