by Abu Hanifah
TABOLI, Indonesia, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Scared residents of Palu in the Indonesia's quake and tsunami-hit central Sulawesi are fleeing the city as basic necessities of life such as food, electricity and fuel are in short supply in the aftermath of strong and shallow earthquakes and a tsunami that have so far killed more than 800 people.
Many cars and motorbikes are seen parked on the roadside of hub township of Taboli in North Parigi subdistrict, some 60 km from Palu. People are struggling in securing fuels for their cars and motorbikes as no gas station is operational following the earthquakes and tsunami that hit the city on Friday.
"I only had half tank of fuel when I left my house with my family. I cannot fill the fuel for more as I can not find any gas station that is selling fuel," Suhardi, a father of three children, told Xinhua on Sunday night.
He left his house with his wife and children on Sunday morning, planning to go to his relative's house in the province's city of Luwuk.
Suhardi said he had no option and was forced to leave Palu for the sake of his children.
"No supply, no electricity, no clean water or anything to adequately support my family. So I decided to go to my relative's home and stay there until the situation improves," Suhardi, a worker of a private firm in Palu, told Xinhua.
Bad smell from decaying bodies in debris from the quakes and the tsunami is stinky around his house in the downtown of the city, Suhardi said.
He, therefore, had to use his company's car to transport his family to Luwuk. "If the flight to Luwuk is operational, I will certainly choose that. Traveling such a long distance by car on the road to Luwuk is very hard for my children."
Palu airport has been closed after its runway was damaged by the quake.
The airport is now only serving helicopters and propeller planes which deliver relief supplies.
A driver of a relief team on their way to Palu told Xinhua "The access to Palu is blocked in a hilly area and our vehicles leaving on Sunday morning with relief supplies have to wait until the road is cleared. We don't want to stay there at night due to extremely poor visibility and possible aftershocks," Dedi Burhan who had driven for 15 hours from the nearest airport in city of Gotontalo told Xinhua.
He said that another team of cars will bring enough fuel from Gorontalo to ensure the vehicles with relief supplies can arrive in Palu not too late.
The earthquakes and tsunami in Sulawesi province at least struck two cities of Palu and Donggala on Friday afternoon.
The Indonesian authorities so far have little information on the situation in Donggala as communication to the city has been cut off since the quake.
The Indonesian authorities said that the death toll from the earthquakes and tsunami in the province had soared to more than 820 with over 500 others sustained serious injuries. The search and rescue operation is underway amid aftershocks.
