Rescuers Getting Desperate In Indonesia Following Tsunami
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Pangandaran, Indonesia (AHN) - Rescuers have raised the alarm of desperation as the death toll in Monday's tsunami reached over 300 and hundreds more missing as search and rescue operations are hampered by lack of heavy equipment. The scene in Java was chaotic even as some 1,500 rescue workers scour coastal area in a desperate attempt to look for possible survivors and bodies. Agus Sutrisno, chief of the disaster relief said, "We suspect there are still many people buried under the debris. We lack heavy equipment such as backhoes and electric chainsaws." The coastal town of Java was struck by a series of three meter-high walls of water when a 7.7 magnitude undersea earthquake off the south coast of Java island triggered a tsunami. Unfortunately, Java island still has no warning system for tsunami and many residents were caught by surprise, just like in the December 2004 tsunami which hit Asia killing an estimated 220,000 people. The waves destroyed buildings and terrified residents. Heff Martin, a 26-year-old Swiss office worker, said he had only a second to "think with clear heads and use common sense" to save their lives. He told Yahoo News, "There were people screaming outside the hotel, so one of the hotel staff went outside to see what was happening. He came back screaming, 'There is a wave, there is a wave. The sea is coming, the sea is coming! |
