Turkish aid agency helps Indonesia disaster victims

JAKARTA

The charity group of Turkey’s top religious authority was the first to deliver aid to the disaster-hit people of Lompio, a small region in Indonesia, according to an official.

Abdullah Uçak, a humanitarian aid expert at the Turkish Diyanet Foundation (TDV), told state-run Anadolu Agency that the foundation was the first to reach the area located in the Donggala regency.

Uçak said a month’s worth of aid supplies consisting of basic needs, including food and personal care items, was distributed to some 1,040 families.

He recalled that he reached Lompio together with Selahattin Karabostan, another expert, on the fourth day of the earthquake, which struck Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island on Sept. 28, and carried out an analysis of what’s needed.

“After the analysis we immediately initiated aid efforts,” Uçak added.

He also said help was underway in an extensive area in the quake-hit region for those who face difficulties in meeting their basic needs, particularly in rural areas.

On Sept. 28, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Sulawesi Island, which triggered a tsunami in Donggala and Palu cities that towered up to 3 meters in height.

The disaster has caused over 2,000 deaths, according to military authorities in the region on Oct. 9.

The death toll is feared to rise as at least 5,000 people were still missing, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesperson of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).