Quake survivors immunized, some still need aid

Indonesia began immunizing quake survivors against measles yesterday and helicopters swept disaster sites on Java Island to look for isolated victims, but help was still too slow for many.

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said the government was also evacuating patients from hospitals in the immediate area to more distant cities to relieve overcrowding.

"For now (the hospitals) are starting to get tidy and we have penetrated isolated areas using mobile clinics ... helicopters dispatch food while airlifting the patients," she said.

Saturday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake, centred just off the Indian Ocean coast near Yogyakarta, the main city in the region, has killed 5,846 people and left 130,000 homeless.

Hardest hit is Bantul, where entire villages were levelled and homes reduced to piles of wood, tiles and tin.

There were no signs of disease, but medicines were being sent to affected areas to prevent diseases like measles and malaria.

Some survivors said they still lacked more basic aid.

"We get aid from private donors, but we haven't received any from the government," said Mohammad Aziz, 35, who managed to save his nephew, but lost his 68-year-old father in the earthquake.

Dozens of countries ranging from South Korea and Singapore to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pledged cash, supplies and personnel.

UN agencies and private international organizations began sending aid soon after the quake.

Source: China Daily