More bodies found as death toll from Indonesia quake nears 2,000
Palu, Oct 8 : Nearly 2,000 bodies have been recovered from Indonesia's disaster-ravaged Palu city, an official said Monday, as the search for victims ended at a hotel destroyed in the powerful earthquake and tsunami.
The death toll from the twin disaster on Sulawesi island that erased whole suburbs in Palu has reached 1,944, said local military spokesman M. Thohir.
"That number is expected to rise, because we have not received orders to halt the search for bodies," Thohir, who is also a member of the government's official Palu quake taskforce, told AFP.
Authorities have said as many as 5,000 are believed missing in two hard-hit areas since the September 28 disaster -- indicating far more may have perished than the current toll.
Hopes of finding anyone alive have faded and the search for survivors amid the wreckage has turned to gathering and accounting for the dead.
The disaster agency said the official search for the unaccounted would continue until October 11 at which point they would be listed as missing, presumed dead.
But rescuers called off the search Monday at Hotel Roa-Roa, which was reduced to a tangled mess of twisted rebar and smashed concrete by the force of the quake.
The hotel emerged as an early focus of efforts to extract survivors, with seven people pulled alive from its mangled ruins in the immediate aftermath.
But nobody else was saved as the days passed, and optimism faded as corpses surfaced from the wreckage.
"The SAR (search and rescue) operation at Hotel Roa-Roa has ended, because we have searched the entire hotel and have not found any more victims," Bambang Suryo, SAR field director in Palu, told AFP.
Agus Haryono, another SAR official at the scene who confirmed the search was off, said 27 bodies were recovered from the hotel including three pulled from the debris Sunday.
Among the confirmed dead were five paragliders in Palu for a competition, including an Asian Games athlete and a South Korean, the only known foreign victim in the disaster.
Authorities believed the 80-room hotel was near capacity when the district was ravaged by a 7.5 magnitude quake and tsunami and estimated 50 to 60 people could be trapped inside.
Rescuers have struggled to extract bodies from the wreckage of Palu, a job made worse as mud hardens and bodies decompose in the tropical heat.
The government has said some flattened areas will be declared as mass graves, and left untouched.
Balaroa resident Sarjono agreed with sealing off the obliterated neighbourhood where vast numbers of bodies are believed trapped beneath the ruins.
"But only if they help us relocate elsewhere. If they don't, where will we live?" the 50-year-old told AFP near the debris of his former home.
Gopal, whose aunt and uncle were missing in Balaroa, picked through wreckage knowing just days were left to find his loved ones.
"Even if they (search teams) stop looking, we will still try to find them ourselves," said the 40-year-old who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.
"When we can no longer do it ourselves, we leave it to Allah." Excavators and rescuers combed Balaroa on Monday, where a massive government housing complex was all but swallowed up by the disaster.
Officials say as many as 5,000 people were feared buried at Balaroa and Petobo, another decimated community.
Petobo, a cluster of villages, was subsumed when vibrations from the 7.5-magnitude quake turned soil to quicksand -- a process known as liquefaction.
Relief efforts have escalated to assist 200,000 people in desperate need. Food and clean water remain in short supply, and many are dependent entirely on handouts to survive.
Helicopters have been running supply drops to more isolated communities outside Palu, where the full extent of the damage is still not entirely clear.
The Red Cross said Monday it had treated more than 1,800 people at clinics and administered first aid to a similar number in the immediate disaster zone.
Indonesia sits along the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
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Noida workers' protest turns violent; govt steps in, political blame game erupts
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Noida/Lucknow (PTI): Vehicles, including police SUVs, were torched, public property vandalised, and stone-pelting reported from industrial hubs in Noida on Monday as protests by factory workers demanding a wage hike turned violent, paralysing traffic.
The Uttar Pradesh Police used mild force to disperse the agitators and later registered FIRs against two X handles, charging them with spreading rumours linked to the unrest. The state government also formed a special panel to address the crisis.
Violence was first reported in afternoon, with sporadic stone-pelting and vandalism continuing till 5 pm. No major incidents of arson or violence were reported thereafter, officials said.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assured support to the worker community and said Uttar Pradesh was progressing steadily, but "some people were conspiring to obstruct its growth". His remarks drew sharp criticism from Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who flagged an intelligence failure and said the CM should step down if unable to handle the state.
The unrest, which began in the morning, left thousands of commuters stranded on key routes leading to Delhi during peak hours. Long queues of vehicles stretching several kilometres were reported at the Delhi-Noida border, with major congestion at Sector 62, National Highway-24, Sector 63 and the Chilla border. Protesters blocked key routes, including stretches connecting Sector 62 to Sector 16 and NH-9.
Officials said a large number of workers from industrial units in Phase-2 and Sector 60 gathered to press for long-pending wage revision demands and raised slogans.
Similar protests were reported from Sector 62 and Sector 84, including at a Motherson company unit. NH-9, a key link between Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh, was also blocked.
The protests soon escalated, with some protesters torching vehicles, vandalising property and pelting stones.
Officials said workers had been mobilising support for their demands on a wage hike and better working conditions in factories over the last two days. However, it was not clear what sparked the violence during the protest.
Heavy deployment was rushed to affected areas, while senior administrative and police officials remained on the ground to monitor the situation.
"The situation is under control and being continuously monitored. Efforts are being made to counsel the workers and maintain peace. Minimum force is being used wherever necessary to maintain law and order," police said, urging people not to pay heed to rumours.
The protests triggered widespread traffic snarls across Noida and Greater Noida. Traffic police said diversions were put in place and movement was gradually being restored at key points, including the Chilla border and the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.
Commuters narrated their ordeal, with an office-goer, Prashant Shukla, saying he was stuck at the DND flyover for hours. "Vehicles were not able to move due to heavy traffic jams caused by the workers' protest. It took me nearly two hours to reach the office," he said.
Workers cited low wages and poor working conditions as the reason for the protest.
Gautam Buddh Nagar Additional Labour Commissioner Rakesh Dwivedi said workers are demanding a wage increase similar to what the Haryana government has given. "Besides, there are other issues as well, like overtime and food," he said.
A protester said that despite working 12-hour shifts, workers earn between Rs 11,000 and Rs 15,000, making it difficult to sustain a household. Another protester, Nakul Singh, alleged that companies were not paying overtime in accordance with norms.
A woman worker alleged irregularities in wage payments, saying workers are often made to sign for double shifts while being paid for a single duty. "Working conditions are often very difficult and need improvement," she said.
Another woman protester said, "Everything is becoming expensive, but our salaries remain around Rs 11,000-12,000. They should be increased to at least Rs 20,000-25,000."
The violence came a day after the state government announced measures to strengthen labour welfare, including mandatory double overtime pay, weekly offs and timely wages.
As the situation escalated, the chief minister, speaking at an event in Muzaffarnagar, assured workers of government support and urged them to maintain peace.
"I appeal to all the personnel employed in industrial units, as well as to the workers working with them, to recall how this 'double-engine' government stood by your side, something which you witnessed firsthand during the Covid period," he said.
Adityanath also cautioned workers against those trying to incite unrest.
"Do not let them succeed," he said, adding that "the government stands firmly with the workers and will provide security to entrepreneurs while simultaneously offering protection to every single worker."
He said the government is moving towards ensuring minimum honorarium and social security for workers and urged industrialists to maintain direct dialogue with employees.
Meanwhile, the state government constituted a high-powered committee to address the crisis and ensure coordination between workers, industry and administration.
Officials said the panel, comprising senior bureaucrats and representatives of workers' organisations and industry bodies, has reached Noida and will submit recommendations on priority.
"A thorough probe will also be conducted into any attempts by vested interests or political motives to disturb the atmosphere. Anarchy will not be allowed in UP, and appropriate solutions to the problems will be worked out," officials said.
The developments also triggered sharp political reactions.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav targeted the chief minister over remarks linking the protests to a conspiracy.
"If the honourable chief minister is calling the Noida workers' movement a conspiracy, was your intelligence police accompanying you during campaigning in Bengal?" Yadav said in a post on X.
"...If you can't manage the state, then step down -- otherwise, the public will throw you out," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister added.
He further alleged that inflation and "commission-driven dealings" had worsened the condition of families and said, "The BJP's double engine has turned into a trouble engine for the public."
UP Congress chief Ajay Rai also criticised the government, calling visuals from the protest sites "disturbing".
"When inflation is breaking people's backs, and workers are being exploited in the name of wages, the youth will be forced to come out on the streets," Rai said.
"Advertisements cannot fill empty stomachs. Tear gas shells cannot answer hunger. Stop ignoring the legitimate demands of workers and find a solution instead of resorting to repression," he added.
Amid the unrest, UP Police stepped up monitoring and warned of strict action against those behind the violence.
Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna said "provocative elements" and "external elements" are being identified.
"Firm legal action will follow once their identities are established," he said, adding that the situation is under constant surveillance from the police headquarters.
Police said adequate deployment has been made across industrial zones, with PAC, paramilitary forces and senior officers stationed at key locations.
Authorities reiterated that the situation is under control and efforts are underway to restore normalcy, while urging people not to believe rumours.
Noida Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh and District Magistrate Medha Roopam also inspected the violence spots, according to officials.
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