Indonesia’s quake survivors await help

JAKARTA, Oct 01 (Reuters): Indonesian authorities scrambled on Monday to get help into quake-hit Sulawesi island as survivors streamed away from their ruined homes and accounts of devastation filtered out of remote areas, including the death of 34 children at a Christian camp.

The confirmed death toll of 844 was certain to rise as rescuers reached devastated outlying communities hit on Friday by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami waves as high as six metres (20 feet).

Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the small city of Palu, 1,500 km (930 miles) northeast of Jakarta.

Hundreds more were feared buried in landslides that engulfed villages.

Rescuers in the Indonesia island of Sulawesi are racing against the clock to save those still trapped in the rubble, as volunteers dug mass graves to bury at least 844 killed in an earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Authorities struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster have appealed for international help.

President Joko Widodo opened the door to the dozens of international aid agencies and NGOs lined up to provide life-saving assistance.

"Last night, President @jokowi authorised us to accept international help for urgent disaster-response and relief," senior government official Tom Lembong wrote on Twitter, asking rescuers to contact him directly via his account and email.