Rescuers found a man buried under a mountain of rubble yesterday, more than four days after a devastating earthquake hit Indonesia's Sumatra region, as aid finally reached thousands of homeless and hungry victims on remote islands still reeling from the December tsunami disaster.
Singaporean and Indonesian rescue teams scrambled to extract the man from under a partially destroyed three-story house on Nias Island after hearing his cries for help.
"The man was saying `help, help, give me water,'" said Indonesian army marine officer Satria, who uses only one name.
PHOTO: EPA
"His voice is strong. He told us he is OK. He sounds good," said a Singaporean rescue official, speaking on condition of anonymity. She said the man was likely to be pulled out alive in a few hours.
Tens of thousands of people were made homeless by Monday's 8.7-magnitude earthquake, which devastated Nias, Banyak and Simeulue islands off the coast of Sumatra.
At least 458 people are confirmed dead in the quake -- 424 on Nias, 20 in Simeulue and 14 on Aceh on mainland Sumatra. The final death toll is expected to be about 500, lower than earlier estimates of up to 2,000.
While Nias received aid fairly quickly thanks to international efforts, little food, medicine or tents have reached the other two islands because heavy rain and winds prevented planes from landing and ships from docking.
"We have had 100-tonne boats make U-turns. Planes and helicopters couldn't land. To a certain extent there has been more focus on Nias and there hasn't been much reaching Simeulue," said Malik Allaouna, an official of the Save the Children relief group said in Sinabang, the capital of Simeulue.
Yesterday, a ferry docked in Sinabang in clear weather, bringing the first major Indonesian government aid to the island. Most of the island's 31,000 people have lost their homes -- some 23,000 by the Dec. 26 tsunami-earthquake and the rest by Monday's quake.
The earthquake-tsunami killed more than 126,000 people in Indonesia -- mostly in Aceh province. At least 48,000 others died in 10 other countries on the Indian Ocean rim.
Monday's quake left nearly every house on Simeulue unlivable, either destroyed or badly damaged. There is no electricity and drinking water is running out. Aid officials haven't even assessed the damage in three of Simeulue's eight districts.
They also have been slow in coming back to seek treatment for injuries, increasing risk of infections, doctors said.
The situation is far better in Nias, the hardest-hit island. Yesterday, the Australian naval medical ship HMAS Kanimbla docked off its coast and deployed two Sea King helicopters to bring the seriously injured people for treatment on board. The ship is equipped with a surgical theater, intensive care unit, X-ray, pathology and postoperative care facilities.
The discovery of the survivor, believed to be 42-year-old Hendra, also provided rare good news amid the tragedy after rescuers had called off the search for the living on Friday.
But Hendra's family members persisted and employed laborers to dig through his house, who first heard the cries. Hendra lived with his wife and two children, but their fate is not known.
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