Indonesia death toll rises to more than 2,000 people

Indonesian officials on Tuesday raised the death toll from the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster to 2,010 people as rescue workers plan to end their search in some of the worst-hit areas. A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit the island of Sulawesi on Sept. 28, followed by a 7.5 magnitude quake that triggered a tsunami. Search efforts will end with Islamic prayers on Thursday in three neighborhoods in the city of Palu, disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. The quake caused the soil in the city’s neighborhoods of Petobo, Balaroa, and Jono Oge to liquefy, burying people and houses beneath. Authorities believe thousands of residents are still unaccounted for.

At a news conference on Monday, disaster agency leader Willem Rampangilei said Palu’s soft-soil areas are at high risk of liquefaction and are unfit for housing, adding that authorities will relocate people still living in the area.