Salvation Army Dispatches Medical Workers to Indonesia as Death Toll Nears 5,500

|PIC1|Emergency aid is being provided to survivors of Saturday's earthquake in Indonesia, after scores of people spent a third night without shelter. The death toll in the 6.3 magnitude earthquake which hit near the city of Yogyakarta has reached at least 5,427.

Ten Salvation Army specialist medical workers, including doctors and nurses, have been dispatched to the devastated region, and tents are currently being distributed by the Christian organisation.

An immediate grant of US$20,000 has been offered by the International Salvation Army HQ to help the people affected find desperate food, shelter, medicine and clothes.

In addition, Salvation Army’s locally-based Compassion in Action team is on the ground providing assistance to survivors.

Commissioner Johannes Watilete, leader of The Salvation Army in Indonesia, reports that the first team of 10 specialist medical workers, including doctors and nurses from the organisation’s William Booth Hospital in Semarang, has set up operations in the town of Bantul.

Relief team members have also travelled to the village of Wade, where tents are desperately needed by families sleeping in paddy fields.

|PIC2|More than 20,000 people were injured in the quake and 200,000 left homeless. More bodies are thought to be trapped under debris, but rescuers say the odds of finding survivors now are slim.

Yogyakarta airport, which was closed in the earthquake aftermath, has now reopened to commercial airliners, and the UN has set up its co-ordination centre close to the airport to bring order to the flow of goods.

A 40-strong medical team from China has also arrived north of Yogyakarta province with five tonnes of medical supplies.

The UN's World Food Programme is hoping to fly in 40 tonnes of supplies 30th May.

But Paulette Song of Oxfam told the BBC that heavy rains were hampering access to some of the more remote areas. She also said many people in Yogyakarta were choosing to remain outside rather than return to their homes.

The BBC has reported that in the area of Bantul tents are yet to arrive, but that some donated sheets, towels and food were being distributed.

A local official told her 600,000 of the 800,000 people in the district needed assistance.

|AD|Some 22 countries have given or promised aid to Indonesia. Japan, the UK and Saudi Arabia are among countries each offering several million dollars worth of aid. Other countries have sent rescue and medical teams to help treat the injured.

The UN's top relief co-ordinator, Jan Egeland, told the BBC the task was "enormous" but also that he expected aid to be quicker than for the 2004 tsunami disaster.

Major Dina Ismael, Salvation Army relief coordinator, reports that the team is employing the methods which were successfully developed during the tsunami response last year.

Ismael said, “Our Compassion in Action teams will be on hand to offer continuous assistance to those who have suffered. Personnel will be rotated on a weekly basis to maintain the support programme and sustain the assistance we are providing. In addition to the medical field hospitals, our teams will also provide tents and other urgently needed relief supplies.”

Donations can be made to The Salvation Army's South Pacific and East Asia Disaster Fund by clicking HERE.