The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island has climbed past 2,000, officials said, as authorities prepared to end the search for thousands of victims feared buried in mud and rubble.
Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the toll from the September 28 twin disasters had climbed to 2,010.
He said authorities will hold prayers on Thursday to mark the end of the search in the Petobo, Balaroa and Jono Oge areas of Palu city, where the quake caused loose soil to liquefy, swallowing houses and burying the occupants.
“On October 11, we will hold joint prayers in Balaroa, Petobo and Jono Oge to end the evacuation of bodies,” he told a daily news briefing on the relief efforts.
While the official search will end, Mr Nugroho said authorities will not stop villagers from continuing to dig through the ruins for loved ones.
The areas, which now look like vast wastelands, will be turned into memorial parks to remember the victims, and survivors will be relocated to safer locations, he said.
He said the region had recorded 508 aftershocks since the magnitude 7.5 earthquake, which triggered a giant wall of water that destroyed large areas of land in Palu and surrounding areas.
The disaster destroyed more than 65,000 homes and buildings, and displaced more than 70,000 people.
Thousands are still living in temporary shelters and tents across Palu, but life is beginning to return to normal in some areas, with plans for redevelopment under way, officials said.
