Jakarta.- "The death toll will continue to rise," said Sutopo Nugroho, spokesperson for the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), who also announced that the mass funerals of the victims will begin this Sunday to prevent the spread of diseases.

More than 36 hours after the catastrophe, the rescue teams have not been able to reach all the affected localities, where there might be many people trapped under the mud and rubbles.

The damage in the area was extensive -said the BNPB official- with thousands of houses, hospitals, shopping centers and hotels collapsed, a 250-meter long bridge was destroyed and the access to the main road to Palu, a city of 350,000 inhabitants, is blocked off due to a landslide.

The place of the disaster still remains without electricity on Sunday and the mobile telephone networks work intermittently.

The spokesman said that the whereabouts of hundreds of people participating in a festival on a Palu beach, including three French tourists, is still unknown, when the giant wave was triggered as a result of the tellurian movement.

Regarding the tsunami, the spokesperson regretted that the warning system did not work properly. "There was no siren. Many people were not aware of the danger," he added.

For rescue work and humanitarian aid, the government claims to have 560 billion rupees (about seven billion dollars) ready, to provide assistance, as announced by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. (PL)

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