Indonesia quake death toll at 5,427; aid increases

Yogyakarta (Indonesia), May 30: International relief efforts picked up today for survivors of a weekend earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people on Indonesia's Java island, with over a score of countries now involved.

Planes carrying vital supplies from abroad reached the stricken region, while the airport at the ancient royal capital of Yogyakarta re-opened to commercial traffic despite a heavily damaged terminal.

A plane carrying a 40-member Chinese medical team as well as five tonnes of medical supplies landed early on Tuesday at Solo, some 60 km north of Yogyakarta province, Xinhua news agency reported.

The quake's official death toll had reached 5,427 as of Tuesday morning, according to the government's Social Affairs Department.

The 6.3 magnitude quake left more than 130,000 homeless by one estimate, many without shelter and short of food.

Many survivors who were injured or whose homes were destroyed have been staying on the grounds of hospitals and mosques or in makeshift shelters beside the rubble of their houses.

The tremor early on Saturday was centred just off the Indian Ocean coast near Yogyakarta, the former Javanese royal capital.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said 20,000 people were injured and more than 130,000 left homeless, of which 40 percent were children.

Children and the elderly, who had a harder time scrambling from houses as they collapsed, were disproportionately represented among the dead as well.

Those who survived were struggling to get by.

In the hard-hit Bantul area of the island, Sutrisno, carrying his 13-month-old baby son, said late yesterday that his village had been reduced to rubble.

''Food is still hard to get, aid is still lacking ... I don't know when help will come,'' he said.

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Government and aid groups say shelter and clean water are key.

The United Nations will ship three 100-bed field hospitals, tents, medical supplies and generators this week, and UN officials say more than 22 countries have now responded to Indonesia's call for help with aid or pledges of assistance.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who moved his office temporarily to Yogyakarta, vowed late on Monday all relief funds would be spent on quake victims and said he had warned government officials against pocketing aid themselves. ''I have asked (officials), and this has been implemented, that we must maintain transparency and accountability. Don't misappropriate one dollar ...'' he told reporters in Yogyakarta.

Indonesia is notorious for endemic corruption. The government has set aside relief funds of 100 billion rupiah (10.86 million dollars) from now till August. A year of reconstruction and rehabilitation will begin after August, costing the government 1.1 trillion rupiah, he added.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has said survivors would be given 200,000 rupiah () each for clothes and household items, while families would get 12 kg of rice. People will also be compensated for damaged homes.

Meanhwile evacuating the decomposing bodies of the dead is an important priority to insure survivors' health, Yogyakarta's provincial secretary, Bambang Susanto Priyohadi, has said.

''...if we do not move them away from the pockets of population, they could turn into sources of disease.'' Up to 35,000 homes and buildings in and around Yogyakarta were reduced to rubble.

The city's airport was re-opened to commercial traffic despite a heavily damaged terminal. The passenger terminal was blocked off with big sheets of tin and the roof had caved in. The airport was relatively quiet early on Tuesday.

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Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said doctors and medicines were being sent to affected areas to prevent outbreaks of diseases such as measles and malaria.

The international community has pledged millions of dollars as well as medical relief teams, disaster experts and emergency supplies.

Saturday's quake was the latest misfortune to hit the world's fourth-most populated country after Islamic militant bombings, bird flu outbreaks and the massive 2004 quake and tsunami.

A volcanologist said the quake heightened activity at nearby Mount Merapi, a volcano that has been rumbling for weeks and sporadically emitting hot lava and highly toxic hot gas.

Indonesia sits on the Asia-Pacific's so-called ''Ring of Fire'', which is marked by heavy volcanic and tectonic activity. The December 26, 2004, quake and its resulting tsunami, left some 170,000 people dead or missing around Aceh.

Yogyakarta, 25 km from the coast, is a tourist centre. Ancient and protected heritage sites such as Borobudur, the biggest Buddhist monument on earth, dot the area.

Borobudur survived the quake but the Prambanan Hindu temple complex suffered some damage. Parts of Yogyakarta's centuries-old royal palaces also collapsed.

UNI

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