NZDF evacuates survivors from quake-damaged Indonesian City
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has evacuated about 120 survivors from Palu, the Indonesian city devastated by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami last week.
Flight Lieutenant Dave Natapu, aircraft captain from the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s №40 Squadron, said a C-130 Hercules aircraft brought the survivors, including babies and children, to the port city of Balikpapan after delivering 10.6 tonnes of aid supplies to Palu.
“There was a palpable sense of relief from the evacuees when they got into our Herc,” Flight Lieutenant Natapu said.
“They erupted in cheers and gave a thumbs up sign before we took off.”
The survivors, many of whom had slept outdoors for days, queued to get into the Hercules. Many carried backpacks and bags and said they had lost their homes and relatives.
Flight Lieutenant Natapu said the devastation caused by the twin disasters was apparent as they flew into Palu on Friday afternoon.
“The scale of destruction was worse than I had anticipated.”
He said the Indonesian authorities and the locals both at Palu and Balikpapan thanked the NZDF personnel for helping.
“Our Hercules was one of the first two foreign aircraft to deliver aid supplies to Palu and the Indonesian soldiers cheered as we offloaded the supplies yesterday.”
Major General Tim Gall, the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said the Hercules and a 14-member NZDF detachment would continue to help transport aid supplies and emergency responders to Palu and evacuate displaced people.
“Together with New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we are pleased that we are able to lend a hand to the Indonesian authorities at this critical time,” Major General Gall said.
Multinational operations to fly aid supplies to disaster zones are being staged out of Balikpapan, a port city in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province which is about 380 kilometres west of Palu.
