In pictures: Indonesia's quake-tsunami disaster

Quake and tsunami-hit Indonesia starts burying its dead and asks for international help after Friday's disaster left over 800 people dead and displaced tens of thousands.

People look at the damage after an earthquake and tsunami hit Palu, on Sulawesi island on September 29, 2018.
AFP

People look at the damage after an earthquake and tsunami hit Palu, on Sulawesi island on September 29, 2018.

Indonesian volunteers began burying bodies in a mass grave with space for more than a thousand people on Monday, victims of a quake and tsunami that killed 844 people and devastated swathes of Sulawesi and left authorities struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster.

Officials fear the toll will rise steeply in the coming days and are preparing for the worst, declaring a 14-day state of emergency.

At Poboya –– in the hills above the devastated seaside city of Palu –– volunteers began to fill a vast grave with the dead, with instructions to prepare for 1,300 victims to be laid to rest.

Authorities are desperate to stave off any disease outbreak caused by decomposing bodies.

AFP

Mass graves were being readied on October 1 for hundreds of victims of the Indonesian quake and tsunami as authorities battled to stave off disease and reach desperate people still trapped under shattered buildings.

AFP

People drive past a washed up boat and collapsed buildings in Palu on October 1, 2018, after an earthquake and tsunami hit the area on September 28.

Indonesia will accept international help for disaster response and relief, the head of the Indonesian investment board said on Twitter on Monday.

President Joko Widodo agreed to accept international help on Sunday night, Thomas Lembong said. 

Lembong said he would coordinate private sector help from around the world.

Countries such as Turkey, Thailand and Australia have offered to help. 

Reuters

An injured man is evacuated on a military aircraft following an earthquake and tsunami, at Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport in Palu.

Reuters

A woman cries as she waits to be evacuated by military aircraft at Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Reuters

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, accompanied by Central Sulawesi Governor Longki Djanggola, visits people injured by the earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Officials said on Monday that 48,000 people were displaced by the disaster.

''Regarding the number of evacuees, so far we have housed 48,025. I repeat, the number of evacuees from 94 areas in total is 48,025 people," Mohammad Tahir, head of evacuation camp in Palu, the worst-affected, said.    

Reuters

Local residents wait to be airlifted out by military planes at Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Officials say the government is housing over 48,000 people who were affected by the quake and tsunami.

Reuters

A combination of satellite images shows Palu, Indonesia on September 25, 2018 (top) and on September 29, 2018 (bottom).

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