Death toll in Indonesia rises above 4,300

A desperate search for survivors is continuing today after a massive earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Java, killing more than 4,300 people.

Exhausted and grieving survivors are digging through their crumpled homes for clothes, food and valuables after the earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, struck early on Saturday morning in the densely populated island.

At least 4,332 people were killed in the quake, according to command post officials from the affected areas and local government official Idham Samawi. The social ministry said around 4,600 died, but numbers in one of the hardest hit districts were disputed.

The quake was the worst to hit Indonesia since the one that resulted in the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004, which left 170,000 people dead or missing on the northern tip of Sumatra.
The Indonesian Red Cross estimates that at least 200,000 fled their homes following the earthquake.

The disaster zone stretched across hundreds of square miles of mostly farming communities in Yogyakarta province. The worst devastation was in the town of Bantul, which accounted for three-quarters of the deaths. An official said that more than 2,000 people had been killed there, and 80% of the homes were flattened.

There have been reports that one of Indonesia’s most ancient temples, the 9th century Prambanan complex in Yogyakarta, was badly damaged by the quake, with hundreds of stone carvings and blocks scattered around the site.

The Red Cross has launched an appeal for $10m (£5.38m) in aid, as world leaders pledged their support. Unicef is sending emergency supplies, including 2,000 tents, 9,000 tarpaulins and hygiene kits.

Volunteers from Indonesian political parties and Islamic groups, as well as military vehicles carrying soldiers, headed south from the ancient royal city of Yogyakarta to Bantul, to help in the effort.

“Kopassus (special forces troops) and Indonesian Red Cross volunteers are trying to comb through rubble because thousands of houses are damaged and people may still be trapped beneath them,” Ghozali Situmorang, director general of aid management for the national social department, told Yogyakarta radio.

The Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has temporarily moved his office to Yogyakarta to be close to the rescue effort and has called on rescuers to work around the clock.

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006