Aerial photo taken on Oct. 10, 2018 shows a washed up steamship in Donggala, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Indonesian national disaster agency put the death toll from multiple strong quakes and an ensuing tsunami in Central Sulawesi province at 2,045 on Wednesday, a day before the search operation ended. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)
The Indonesian national disaster agency put the death toll from multiple strong quakes and an ensuing tsunami in Central Sulawesi province at 2,045 on Wednesday, a day before the search operation ended.
Spokesman of the agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said most of the bodies were retrieved in the provincial capital of Palu which was hardest hit by the disaster late last month.
"The worst-hit area is Palu, where the damages were resulted from the strikes of tsunami," he told a press conference.
Authorities have hastened funerals for victims as many of the recovered bodies were decomposing.
As many as 2,549 people were severely injured and 8,130 others suffered minor wounds, he added.
Some 5,000 people remained missing in two residential compounds, the spokesman said.
A total of 74,044 people were taking shelter in 112 evacuation centers in the province and 8,731 people outside of the province.
The deadly disaster destroyed a total of 67,310 houses in Palu, the adjoing districts of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Mountong, said Sutopo.
The search and rescue mission will be terminated on Thursday, the 14th day after the catastrophe due to the potential risk of an epidemic, according to head of the disaster agency Willem Rampangilei.
Strong and shallow quakes of 6.0, 7.4 and 6.1 magnitude, which triggered a tsunami of up to 3 meters, destroyed the province on Sept. 28 with massive damage to houses, buildings and infrastructure facilities.
