United Nations and Red Cross agencies were meeting in Geneva on Monday to coordinate a mounting international relief effort for thousands of victims of Indonesia’s deadly earthquake, a United Nations spokesperson said.
The death toll from the earthquake that rocked Indonesia’s main island of Java has risen to at least 5 136, the Social Affairs Ministry said on Monday.
A disaster assessment team was rushed to the quake-ravaged area near the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta when the Indonesian government formally asked for help on Sunday afternoon, Elisabeth Byrs, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) said.
“There will be a first inter-agency meeting at 2pm (12am GMT), for coordination following the earthquake in Indonesia,” said Byrs.
“The purpose of the meeting is to exchange information and coordinate activities.”
An internal OCHA task force was meeting earlier at 10am (8am GMT), while international relief officials have already been meeting in Indonesia since the earthquake struck the island of Java early on Saturday.
The UN team of experts in Yogyakarta, who are meant to assess the scale of the damage and exactly what kind of aid is needed for several thousand injured and an estimated 200 000 homeless people, had been on standby in Asia before flying to the scene.
Emergency field hospitals, hygiene and clean drinking water were the top priorities for aid agencies operating in Indonesia’s quake zone, international relief officials in the area said on Monday.
On Sunday, the UN’s World Food Programme began distributing emergency food rations to survivors in the worst affected districts, Bantul and Klaten, drawing on stocks already in the country.
The initial 30 tonnes of emergency supplies of high-energy biscuits were sufficient to feed around 20 000 people for seven days, the WFP said in a statement. A medical team was also sent to the area.
The agency said supplies were expected to be ferried in on a daily basis. “This is a terrible tragedy for so many people, in a country which has already suffered so much,” said WFP executive director James Morris.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies earlier launched an emergency appeal for 12-million Swiss francs ($9,79-million) for assistance to survivors of the earthquake.
Red Cross medical teams were rushed from neighbouring Asian countries to back up colleagues in Indonesia.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) was distributing 35 tonnes of food, water and medical supplies to the worst hit areas near Yogyakarta, with a fleet of 30 trucks.
International agencies have maintained a heavy presence in Indonesia following the 9,3-magnitude quake off Sumatra in 2004 and the ensuing tsunami which left 168 000 people dead in the province of Aceh.
That aid effort, the world’s biggest on record, was sharply criticised after inappropriate supplies were flown in and bottlenecks hampered the delivery of emergency care.
“It is clear that the government agencies have learned many lessons from responding to the tsunami, and they understand the importance of coordination and how to deliver materials in a timely manner,” said IOM logistician Ronnie Bala in Indonesia. – AFP