Tsunami in Indonesia: death toll at 832 and expected to rise sharply – as it happened

Sutopo said access to heavy equipment needed to help the rescue efforts is still limited and there are many obstacles in the evacuation process.

During the earthquake there were 61 foreign nationals in the city of Palu. Three French people, one Malaysian and one South Korean are currently missing

Sutopo has confirmed that 832 people have been killed in the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, with the number expected to rise.

821 died in Palu and 11 people have been confirmed dead in Donggala. 540 people were seriously injured and hospitalised.

While we wait for a translation of Supoto’s press conference, here are some images from Palu which show the extent of the devastation

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The press conference is about to kick off, with Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesperson for the disaster agency (BNBP) about to address journalists

One of the first casualties of the earthquake, 21-year-old Anthonius Gunawan Agung, is being hailed as a hero after he stayed in the air traffic control tower as the earthquake hit, to make sure that a flight to Bali could take off safely.

“When the earthquake occurred, Agung had cleared Batik Air for takeoff. He waited until the aircraft was safely in the air before leaving his air traffic controller cabin,” Yohanes Sirait, a spokesman for state-owned flight navigation service AirNav Indonesia, said in a statement on Saturday.

Agung then jumped from the control tower as it was collapsing, but he did not survive.

This is the current state of the airport in Palu

This footage shows the moment that the first towering wall of water hit coast of Palu city, enveloping everything in its path. A second wave, which hit the city moments later, can be seen in the background.

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Bodies of those killed by the tsunami have been found on the shores of local beaches, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesperson for the disaster agency.

“We have found corpses from the earthquake as well as bodies swept up by the tsunami,” Sutopo said in a televised interview on Saturday.

There are still no casualty figures from the city of Donggala, which is home to 300,000 people and was the worst hit area.

More than half of the 560 inmates in Palu’s prison escaped after walls collapsed during Friday’s quake, the Indonesian news agency Antara reported.

“It was very hard for the guards to stop the inmates from running away as they were so panicked and had to save themselves too,” warden Adhi Yan Ricoh said.

The Indonesian Government has also reportedly given the people in Palu permission to loot food and water from shops

In Palu, search and rescue teams are working to pull survivors from collapsed homes and shopping malls. Around 60 of people are feared trapped in the ruins of the 80-room Roa Roa hotel, with voices heard calling from the rubble.

By Sunday morning, rescuers had pulled out six people alive but dozens are still thought to be inside.

Thousands are feared dead after a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It triggered a deadly tsunami off the coast of the city of Palu, which is home to 350,000 people.

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused thousands of buildings to collapse, including a hotel, a shopping mall and several mosques. The current death toll is 420, but rescue teams are currently scrabbling to reach the area and it is expected to rise into the thousands. It is feared the tsunami may have washed many of those on the coast out to sea.

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Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesperson for the disaster agency (BNBP), is due to address a press conference at 1pm Jakarta time, providing information on the latest death toll and extent of the damage so far. Stay tuned for updates.