At least 3000 Missing after Sumatra Earthquake

Foreign emergency rescue teams are working to reach areas in and around Indonesia’s port city, Padang, which was devastated by a powerful earthquake Wednesday. The undersea earthquake that hit the Indonesian Island of Sumatra originated only 50 kilometers from the city.

Ambulances had trouble getting through the traffic jams in Padang. With the electricity out, the traffic lights were not working. Police had closed off some streets where rescue workers were digging through the rubble. Crowds of bystanders spilled out onto the streets to watch.

An earthquake survivor trapped in a collapsed hotel in western Indonesia sent a text message saying he and some others were alive, triggering a frantic rescue operation, but hopes faded Saturday as sniffer dogs failed to detect life.

Officials said voices and claps had been heard from survivors buried in the Ambacang Hotel since Wednesday’s 7.6-magnitude quake on Sumatra island. The temblor killed at least 715 people, left more than 3,000 missing and destroyed more than 20,000 houses.

El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Indonesia, said he had received preliminary information about 200 houses being swept away in Pulau Aik, but could not say if that constituted the entire village. He also had no information about casualties.

He said 3,000 people are missing just in Padang, the region’s main city, and the total figure for Sumatra could be higher.

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