SAF and SCDF officers first and only foreign troops on quake-hit island

SUMATRA - IT WAS past noon before Singapore's Chinooks landed. Bad weather grounded their flights to Gunung Sitoli, the main town on the quake-hit Nias island.

The risks of flying in low-hanging clouds in the hilly terrain notwithstanding, air travel by helicopter is, by far, the best and quickest way from the nearest big town, Medan on Sumatra island. This is what made the touchdown on Nias itself an event - even before the actual relief work began.

When the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) rescue officers set foot on the ground at 1pm, they were the first and only foreign troops to land on the devastated island.

There are 29 SCDF officers in this contingent, codenamed Operation Lionheart. The initial assessment is that both SAF and SCDF are expected to stay in Sumatra for two weeks.

The SAF team set up base at a mini-hospital built by the International Medical Corp, a California-based global humanitarian organisation, at a school next to a football field.

A group of SCDF officers began search and rescue work in the town. The three hours after their arrival were dedicated to extricating an Indonesian man from the rubble. Identified as Mr Yusri, he was barely alive when he was found under the rubble of a three-storey hotel. SCDF Disaster And Rescue Team (Dart) officers crawled under the debris and found the lower half of Mr Yusri's body pinned under the rubble. They freed him using their handsaws and lifting tools.

The medical team also acted swiftly, unloading their medical supplies. They are equipped to do minor surgery at the mini-hospital.

The more seriously injured are airlifted by United Nations, Indonesian Air Force and SAF choppers to the two nearest hospitals in Sibolga, as the hospital on Nias was completely destroyed in the 8.7-magnitude earthquake.

At a makeshift clinic outside Gunung Sitoli's main mosque, 21 volunteers were running out of supplies.

'I have not slept since the earth began to shake,' said Dr Lucas Sapto as he treated children with cuts on their faces.

At a Buddhist temple, about 20 bodies were laid out in the tropical heat. 'We are waiting for a hearse. Once it comes, I can bury my daughter and two grandchildren,' said 74-year-old Lukmin. Corpses were also lined up outside churches and mosques which have become makeshift collection points for the dead.

On the nearby island of Simeulue, where the death toll was under 10 but is expected to rise, thousands were camping outdoors. Those left homeless by the disaster were joined by thousands too afraid to return to their houses for fear of another quake.

The governor of Sumatra, Major-General Rizal Nurdin, told The Straits Times that the death toll was expected to mount. Maj-Gen Rizal said: 'There are a lot of bodies, and we can't tell how many are dead. Our first priority now is to save the injured, and provide relief to the homeless. 'They need electricity, drinking water, medicine and food.' He said the morale of the villagers is low as the earthquake had happened so soon after the tsunami. 'Although Pulau Nias was untouched by the Boxing Day tsunami, it was still a big blow to the residents. 'Natural calamities are like that - we can only do something after they strike,

By Tanya Fongfrom The Straits Times Interactive, March 31, 2005