Indonesia toll nears 6,000; China offers aid worth $1.25m
(Xinhua/AP)
Updated: 2006-05-30 21:04
International relief efforts picked up on Tuesday for survivors of the
earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people on Indonesia's Java island, but
many victims complained that vital aid was not reaching them.
Amran, a three year-old earthquake victim from
Bantul, is comforted by his mother at a hospital in Yogyakarta, Central
Java, May 30, 2006. [Reuters] |
Planes carrying supplies and foreign experts, including Japanese paramedics
and a small contingent of U.S. Marines, reached the stricken region to
supplement government aid and workers.
The paramedics and Marines landed at the airport at the ancient royal capital
of Yogyakarta, the main city in the affected area, which re-opened to commercial
traffic despite a heavily damaged terminal.
U.N. officials say more than 22 countries have responded to Indonesia's call
for help with aid or pledges of assistance, and more countries announced
contributions in cash, goods or personnel throughout the day.
But help was still a long way off for some.
In the hard-hit rural area on the way to Bantul town, Jumadi and his two
barefoot teenage boys begged motorists for money.
"Our village has many victims, houses are all destroyed and we have not
received aid from the government. This is (all) we can do. What else can we do?"
he said.
The quake's official death toll had reached 5,428 as of Tuesday afternoon,
according to the government's Social Affairs Department, and it had left more
than 130,000 homeless by one estimate, many without shelter and short of food.
|
