As Facilities Strain in Wake of Tsunami, Hospital Patients Treated Outdoors, Yards From Dead Bodies

The pressure on emergency services in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia was clear at the Undata Hospital in Palu city, where patients were being treated outdoors, not far from where the corpses of victims lay.Facebook user Andi Fahmi Gunthur captured video of the scene, posting it to Facebook on October 1.More than 100 corpses were lying in the hospital’s yard, just a stone’s throw from the patients being treated outdoors, some under a giant tent, CNN reported.The government hospital has received more than 200 bodies since the disaster struck Palu and the nearby districts of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Moutong, the hospital director, Dr Komang Hadi Sujendra, said.Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), said on Twitter on September 29 that patients at the Undata hospital were treated outdoors due to fears of aftershocks.The authorities have conducted mass burials to prevent the spread of disease.By October 2, a total of 1,234 people were confirmed to have died, while 799 others were severely injured, Sutopo said, adding that the death toll is expected to rise. Credit: Andi Fahmi Gunthur via Storyful