Indonesia disaster: UN praises strength of Sulawesi people

According to the news reports, the village of Balaroa,one of the worst hit areas of Palu, Indonesia,virtually disappeared into a sinkhole due to the earthquake and around 70 per cent of the population lost their lives.

Standing amidst the wreckage of Balaroa, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday said it was "impossible not to feel heart-broken" at the destruction caused by the huge earthquake and tsunami that struck the island of Sulawesi two weeks ago, United Nations news reported.

Latest figures from the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) say that around 2,000 died overall in the disaster with 11,000 injured and 680 still officially missing.

The UN chief, talking to reporters in Palu, said it was "the moment to express and I want to do it on behalf of the UN and, I believe, the whole international community, full solidarity is with the people of Sulawesi and the people of Indonesia, and an enormous admiration for the resilience that was demonstrated by the population impacted by this earthquake."

"Their courage, their spirit of solidarity is remarkable" he added, saying that the response led by the Indonesian government had been 'very rapid and effective'.

"As the UN, we are ready to support the government, we already have people on the ground. But the leadership must always be the leadership of the government of the country and the international community needs to be supportive of that effort," he added.

He met the locals of Indonesia and those recuperating at a Palu hospital, which had been partly destroyed in the disaster. He talked to some of the displaced, who had either lost their homes, or were now too afraid to return. He also met families who had lost loved ones, as well as schoolchildren and their teacher, in a camp in Jalan Balaikota.