Update 2: Search for Sulawesi Quake Victims Hampered

Palu. An Indonesian disaster official says rescuers searching for victims of last week’s earthquake in a remote area in Sulawesi cut off by landslides are being hampered by downed communications.

The magnitude-6.3 quake struck Saturday evening near Palu city on northern Sulawesi Island as residents were ending their fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Six people were killed and at least 43 others were injured.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of Indonesia’s Disaster Management Agency says helicopters dropped the first food and emergency supplies to villages in a mountainous area Tuesday.

Nugroho says some 300 soldiers were deployed to rural Lindu sub-district to help clear roads into Lore Lindu National Park that were blocked by quake-triggered landslides. Limited communication has made rescue efforts more difficult.

Associated Press