Time Running Out for Indonesia Quake Survivors

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http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5645497&cKey=1112329223000

GUNUNGSITOLI, Indonesia (Reuters) - Deaths in thisIndonesian town devastated by a massive earthquake could number1,300, with time running out for anyone buried under rubble, aUnited Nations official said on Friday.

"This is based on input from search and rescue teams,"Francois Desruisseaux, a U.N. operations coordinator inGunungsitoli, the main town on Indonesia's Nias island, toldReuters on the casualty estimate.

The town is just one of many places badly damaged by amagnitude 8.7 earthquake late on Monday that shook islands offthe west coast of northern Sumatra island. Estimates of totaldeaths in the area range as high as 2,000.

Desruisseaux said Friday was vital for efforts to freesurvivors from the masses of rubble in Gunungsitoli, much ofwhich was flattened by the quake.