Indonesia calls for international help to deal with quake-tsunami

A powerful quake and tsunami left scores dead on the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi, officials said Saturday, as hospitals struggled to cope with hundreds of injured and rescuers scrambled to reach the stricken region. (Photo | AP) 

JAKARTA: The Indonesian government on Monday called for international help to deal with the aftermath of a devastating series on earthquakes and a tsunami in the island region of Sulawesi that killed at least 832 people.

President Joko Widodo "authorised us to accept international help for urgent disaster-response" the government's head of investment Tom Lembong said, as dozens of aid agencies and NGOs lined up to provide live-saving assistance and the government struggled to come to terms with the sheer scale of the disaster.