Indonesian authorities declared as mass graves Tuesday seven villages

destroyed by earthquake-triggered landslides, as they called off the search for

over 200 people believed buried.
The decision to cancel the search in villages obliterated by landslides caused
by the huge 7.6-magnitude quake that struck Sumatra island on September
30 had been made in consultation with the local community, said Padang
Pariaman district police chief Uden Kusumawijaya.
The disaster, which also devastated the nearby city of Padang, killed 809
people, according to the latest official death toll. The United Nations has said
the disaster likely killed upwards of 1,100.
"There was an agreement to stop the search for victims buried in the landslide
due to the earthquake. The community has consented," Kusumawijaya told
reporters.
"The landslide areas are considered graves for those who are buried," he
said.
A total of 225 people were believed to have been buried in the devastated
hamlets, said Padang Pariaman district spokesman Syofrian.
"Of course there are some in the community who don't agree, but most do, so
we've stopped the search for victims. It's very hard to find those victims who
are still buried," he said.
About 100,000 homes were destroyed by the quake and entire villages were
wiped out in landslides. An estimated 500,000 people were left homeless by
the disaster.




























Thousands of people are ill and malaria is a threat in Sumatra, following
last week's earthquake on the huge Indonesian island. Medical
volunteers report more than 50,000 homes destroyed and no hope of
reaching survivors.
Fresh international aid has arrived after thousands of people have been left
without shelter and clean water.Helicopters have dropped vital supplies to
communities which aid workers have been unable to reach.
Schools and shops have reopened in Padang city, although hundreds of
bodies are still buried beneath piles of rubble.
Officials say the final death toll could exceed 3,000 people and search efforts
have been called off.
More than 50,000 houses have been destroyed or badly damaged, says
Frdric Robin of Mdecins du Monde, who is in Padang. The situation is
tense. In the rural villages north of the city, 80 to 90 per cent of houses have
been destroyed.
Robin says the lack of shelter for victims and increasing rainfall is causing
concern for the health of survivors.
Many people are getting sick and have fevers. There is another fear - people
are sleeping outside where there are many mosquitoes and a risk of malaria.
Nothing has been reported as a major threat, but this is something we have to
follow up in the field.Hopes of finding further survivors are said to be
negligible.
Most foreign search and rescue teams are leaving the country. As the aid
effort is shifting to focus on survivors, the city is beginning to show signs of
recovery.
"Sixty per cent of markets have reopened, the schools have all reopened,
Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar told the AFP news agency. People have gone
back to work and fishermen have gone back to sea. We want Padang to be
that way. We don't want it to be like a city of the dead. We don't want our
people to become beggars."
The UN children's agency Unicef says that almost 70,000 children, or about
40 per cent of the city's students, were back in class Tuesday.
"This is an important sign that life will return to normal for children affected by
this tragedy," Unicef country representative Angela Kearney said.