PALU, Indonesia – More than 1,200 people are now known to have died in the quake-tsunami that smashed into Sulawesi, Indonesia said Tuesday, as police pledged to clamp down on looting by survivors taking advantage of the chaos. ADVERTISEMENTAlmost 200,000 people are in need of urgent help, the United Nations says, among them tens of thousands of children. Survivors are battling thirst and hunger, with food and clean water in short supply, and local hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of injured. Queues for water, petrolDespite official assurances, desperation was evident on the streets of Palu, where survivors clambered through wreckage hunting for anything salvageable. “The government, the president have come here, but what we really need is food and water,” Burhanuddin Aid Masse, 48, told AFP.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 02, 2018 20:48 UTC