Last-ditch search for survivors as Indonesia disaster toll tops 1,500
Palu, Oct 5 : Search teams made desperate last-ditch efforts Friday to find survivors, a week on from Indonesia's devastating quake-tsunami, as the death toll from the disaster rose above 1,500.
The city of Palu on Sulawesi island has been left in ruins after being hit by a 7.5 magnitude quake and a wall of water, which flattened homes, ripped up trees and overturned cars.
After days of delays, international aid has finally started to arrive in the disaster zone, where the UN says almost 200,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Survivors have ransacked shops and supply trucks in the hunt for basic necessities, prompting security forces to round up dozens of suspected looters and warn that they will fire on thieves.
Authorities previously set a tentative deadline of Friday for finding anyone trapped under ruined buildings, although chances of pulling survivors alive from the rubble at such a late stage are almost zero.
Local military spokesman Muhammad Thohir said that the death toll had risen to 1,558, up about 100 from the previous official figure.
Over 100 people are still unaccounted for, while hundreds of bodies have been buried in mass graves in a bid to avert a disease outbreak from corpses rotting in the tropical sun.
Search efforts focused on eight key locations Friday, including a beach and the Balaroa area where the sheer force of the quake turned the earth temporarily to mush.
"We have to use heavy equipment now because it is very difficult to sift through the rubble by hand," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told AFP.
At the badly damaged Mercure hotel on Palu's waterfront, there was growing frustration among a French and Indonesian search team.
The rescuers, using sniffer dogs and scanners, had detected what they believed was a person under mounds of rubble the previous evening but when they resumed the hunt early Friday, any signs of life had disappeared.
"Yesterday we had a heart beat and sign of breathing, there were no other movements so it means it was someone who was motionless, confined," said Philippe Besson, president of the International Emergency Firefighters.
A week on from the disaster, some roads in the area remain impassable, detritus from the tsunami is scattered everywhere while terrified people are sleeping outside for fear of further quakes.
Improvised white flags -- a pillow case or duvet cover -- fly outside many homes, signifying a death in the family.
Nevertheless there were signs of life returning to normal, with children playing in the streets, radios blaring out music, and electricity back up and running in most places.
"Things are improving," Azhari Samad, a 56-year-old insurance salesman, told AFP at a mosque in Palu.
But for the area to recover fully from the disaster "will take years", he added.
"The first six months will be traumatic, maybe in one year we have some progress. The government will help, people will help from all over the country. Indonesians have a big heart." Samad spoke to AFP ahead of Friday prayers in the world's biggest Muslim majority country.
Sulawesi is also home to a large Christian minority.
About 20 planes carrying vital supplies such as tarpaulins, medical equipment and generators are now heading from all over the world to the disaster zone after a long delay.
Indonesia was initially reluctant to accept outside help, insisting its own military could handle the response, but as the scale of the devastation became clear President Joko Widodo agreed to allow in foreign aid.
Governments from Australia to Britain are flying in supplies, the United Nations has pledged 15 million to the relief effort, and aid groups including Save the Children and the Red Cross are also on the ground.
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AI reshaping music, filmmaking in Kannada cinema
Bengaluru: Artificial Intelligence is slowly changing the way music and creativity are produced in the Kannada film industry, raising concerns among musicians, singers and technicians, The New Indian Express reported on Sunday.
Music composer, actor and director V Manohar reportedly said, AI is being used to write lyrics, especially in low-budget movies. Once lyrics are generated, AI can suggest thousands of tunes. It even asks whether the voice should be male or female. With one click, a complete song is ready.
“If this continues, singers and musicians will have less or no work in the coming days. But it may not succeed either. A few years ago, dubbing was allowed and people could watch movies in any language they preferred. But not many took to it as they wanted to watch a movie in the original,” TNIE quoted him as saying.
According to the report, Filmmaker Avinash U Shetty, a National Award winner, said resistance to new technology is not new. Those who resisted shifting from analogue to digital films years ago have now embraced it. The industry is now using only 10% of the AI potential. If it is scaled up, it can do unimaginable things. What we consider bad now, may not be after five years.
Highlighting the cost advantage, Sangamesh, an independent creator reportedly said, he made a three-minute video using AI for just Rs 4,500. Earlier, the same work would have cost nearly Rs 15 lakh. I finished the entire project in three days. The only expense was the AI software subscription, he said.
These days, it has become difficult to differentiate between the real and AI. AI is creating artistes. Scenes like war, big fights and dance can be shot with a lesser number of artistes. Then with the aid of visual effects and AI, you can achieve what you have in mind, he said.
Actor-director D P Raghuram felt that while AI has made an impact on music, it lacks emotional depth. Cinema earlier involved hard work and strong emotional connections. AI can help improve our work, but creativity should remain human, he reportedly said.
As per the report, earlier, Kannada cinema employed hundreds of junior artistes, who not only earned wages but also shared meals on sets and formed lasting bonds with stars like Dr Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh. Today, filmmakers fear that increasing dependence on AI could reduce such human connections, turning creativity into just another automated process.
