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Some Services Restored in Indonesia's Tsunami-Struck Sulawesi

by VOA News

   Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province has begun to take its first steps
   toward recovery, nearly a week after parts of it were devastated by an
   earthquake and massive tsunami that killed more than 1,400 people.

   Electricity has been restored to some parts of Palu, the city of just
   over 370,000 residents which endured the brunt of the disaster. Shops
   have reopened, a major phone network is back in operation, and a small
   number of commercial flights are expected to resume flying in and out
   of the city's wrecked airport.

   As emergency relief slowly arrives in Sulawesi, authorities have begun
   stepping up security to put an end to the sporadic looting by residents
   desperate for food and clean water.

   The official death toll has climbed to 1,424 as of Thursday, with
   70,000 others displaced.
   Indonesia's President Joko Wido visited affected areas for a second
   time Thursday to assess the damage.