Helicopter Sprays Disinfectant on Palu's Liquefaction Sites

A helicopter sprayed disinfectant onto liquefaction sites at Balaroa and Petobo in Palu, Central Sulawesi province, on October 18 to prevent the spread of disease, Indonesian authorities said.

The Balaroa housing complex and Petobo village were among the areas wiped out by soil liquefaction, which happened moments after the 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit Palu and the nearby districts of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Mautong on September 28. Thousands of people are feared to be buried in debris there.

More than 2,000 people died in the triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and liquefaction in Central Sulawesi, the country’s National Disaster Management Agency said.

An estimated 5,000 people were missing, presumably buried in Petobo and Balaroa, the agency’s spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. Credit: Suhardy M. Said via Storyful