Indonesia Quake Toll Rises to 54 as Thousands Await Aid
The death toll from Friday’s magnitude-7.7 earthquake off Flores rose to at least 54, according to officials, after more bodies were recovered overnight. Thousands of displaced people are awaiting aid, with patients treated in tents outside a damaged hospital in Maumere. Rescue and relief work continues amid aftershocks.
Four days on, the disaster is entering its hardest phase: the search for survivors is fading into recovery, while the living face shortages of shelter, clean water and medical care on islands whose main port was crippled by the quake. Treating patients in tents outside a cracked hospital captures the bind — the infrastructure needed for the response is itself among the casualties. Indonesia’s disaster agencies are practised, but the geography of scattered islands makes every delivery slow. Aftershocks keep residents outdoors and nerves frayed. Watch how quickly aid reaches the displaced and whether the port can be brought back into service.