60 feared trapped in hotel rubble

Rescue personnel search for victims in the rubble of the Hotel Roa-Roa in Palu
Squads of orange-clad rescue workers clambered over the tangled remains of an Indonesian hotel Sunday, hoping to dig out 50 to 60 guests still feared trapped by an earthquake-tsunami disaster.

Authorities believe the 80-room Hotel Roa-Roa in the city of Palu on Sulawesi island was near capacity when the district was ravaged by a 7.5 magnitude quake and a tsunami wave Friday.

“It is assumed there are still 50 to 60 people trapped under the rubble,” said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

A South Korean is among those believed to be stuck inside.

Rescue workers are making the hotel a focus of their efforts to save lives.

But they face a race against time to locate and extract survivors before injuries, exhaustion or dehydration take hold.

“We even heard people calling for help there at the Roa-Roa hotel yesterday,” Muhammad Syaugi, head of the national Search and Rescue Agency, told AFP.

At least one person has been pulled out alive, he added.

Video posted by the agency on Sunday showed weary rescuers carrying one body wrapped in black plastic out on a stretcher.

Until Friday the Roa-Roa was a modern chic hotel catering to business travellers, with views of the Makassar Strait and cloud-shrouded mountains in the distance.

It offered guests “easy access to the shopping malls, Talise Beach, market, restaurants” for around US$30 a night.

Now its Ray Eames-style designer armchairs and whitewashed surfaces are buried beneath a mangled heap of rebar, dust and concrete.

The rescue effort is being hampered by a lack of equipment and by continuing aftershocks.

Syaugi said what rescue staff need now is heavy lifting equipment like an excavator. “That is the priority,” he said. “I saw one in downtown Palu and it was just sitting there.”

Some rooms at the back of the hotel could be accessible, he added “but it would be dangerous if search teams go in there because we are still having aftershocks.”

The search is expected to continue until next Friday evening, but could be extended if survivors are found within that time.

“Our target for evacuation is within seven days, but if within that seven days we find survivors, we will add three more days,” said Syaugi.