Ten Salvation Army specialist medical workers, including doctors and nurses, have been dispatched to the devastated region, and tents are currently being distributed by the Christian organisation.
An immediate grant of US$20,000 has been offered by the International Salvation Army HQ to help the people affected find desperate food, shelter, medicine and clothes.
In addition, Salvation Army’s locally-based Compassion in Action team is on the ground providing assistance to survivors.
Commissioner Johannes Watilete, leader of The Salvation Army in Indonesia, reports that the first team of 10 specialist medical workers, including doctors and nurses from the organisation’s William Booth Hospital in Semarang, has set up operations in the town of Bantul.
Relief team members have also travelled to the village of Wade, where tents are desperately needed by families sleeping in paddy fields.
More than 20,000 people were injured in the quake and 200,000 left homeless. More bodies are thought to be trapped under debris, but rescuers say the odds of finding survivors now are slim.Yogyakarta airport, which was closed in the earthquake aftermath, has now reopened to commercial airliners, and the UN has set up its co-ordination centre close to the airport to bring order to the flow of goods.
