Indonesian disaster leaves whole villages buried

Sunday, October 04, 2009 PADANG: Whole villages in Indonesia's quake zone were found obliterated by landslides Saturday, as rescuers searched desperately for up to 4,000 people believed to be still trapped in rubble. The full extent of the damage from Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake emerged as attention turned to the hundreds of villages in the hills outside Padang, a devastated city of one million at the centre of rescue efforts. Journalists travelling from the coastal city on Sumatra island to the surrounding mountains encountered dozens of crumbled houses on the steep roads, and then four villages buried entirely by landslides. Search and rescue officers from the local government said that up to 400 people could have perished in the four hillside villages alone, including a wedding party of 30. "The difficulty in this rescue operation is that the houses are buried under the soil as much as four metres (13 feet) deep," the officer named Topan told media. "So far we have been using our hands to dig." One body was seen lying in a stream nearby, but he said he expected many more would be found. The 100-strong rescue team was unable to bring in heavy machinery because of the broken, narrow roads. Another official said about 600 people were missing in landslides northwest of Padang. "We've only found three dead," local health ministry crisis centre chief Jasmarizal told media.