An artificial rose is seen on the floor outside a collapsed home in Rajabasa in Lampung. AFP

Indonesia says volcanic tsunami drove 40,000 from their homes



The number of people evacuated after Indonesia's deadly tsunami has nearly doubled to about 40,000 while more than 7,000 were injured in the disaster, officials said on Friday, as they trimmed the official death toll.

Authorities said 426 people had been killed - down from a previous tally of 430. Double-counting by different districts was blamed for the change. Two dozen people remain missing almost a week after the disaster.

The fresh figures come a day after Indonesia's disaster agency raised the danger alert level for an erupting volcano that sparked the killer tsunami at the weekend.

They have also warned that fresh activity at the crater threatened to trigger another deadly wave.

Previously, the number of displaced - including many left homeless - stood at 22,0000 but that figure has now jumped to just over 40,000, according to the latest tally.

Some 7,202 people suffered injuries, jumping from 1,495, while nearly 1,300 homes were destroyed as the waves crashed into the coastlines of western Java island and south Sumatra, authorities said.

"We're recommending that people who lived near the beach be permanently relocated," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a press briefing in Jakarta.

"But it's a last-ditch option because it's not easy with limited space and people reluctant to move away."

_______________

Read more:

_______________

A no-go zone around rumbling Anak Krakatoa has been widened to five kilometres - up from a previous 2km - with residents warned to stay away from the coast.

The crater's status has been raised to high alert, the second-highest warning on Indonesia four-point danger scale.

Flights are being redirected away from the area.

A section of the crater - which emerged at the site of the Krakatoa volcano, whose massive 1883 eruption killed at least 36,000 people - collapsed after an eruption and slid into the ocean, triggering Saturday night's killer wave.

Before and after satellite images taken by Japan's space agency showed that a two-square-kilometre chunk of the volcanic island had collapsed into the water.

Indonesia, a vast South-East Asian archipelago, is one of the most disaster-hit nations on Earth due to its position straddling the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide.

The tsunami was Indonesia's third major natural disaster in six months, following a series of powerful earthquakes on the island of Lombok in July and August and a quake-tsunami in September that killed about 2,200 people in Palu on Sulawesi island, with thousands more missing and presumed dead.

Company Profile

Company name: Big Farm Brothers

Started: September 2020

Founders: Vishal Mahajan and Navneet Kaur

Based: Dubai Investment Park 1

Industry: food and agriculture

Initial investment: $205,000

Current staff: eight to 10

Future plan: to expand to other GCC markets

Result:

1. Cecilie Hatteland (NOR) atop Alex - 31.46 seconds

2. Anna Gorbacheva (RUS) atop Curt 13 - 31.82 seconds

3. Georgia Tame (GBR) atop Cash Up - 32.81 seconds

4. Sheikha Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum (UAE) atop Peanuts de Beaufour - 35.85 seconds

5. Miriam Schneider (GER) atop Benur du Romet - 37.53 seconds

6. Annika Sande (NOR) atop For Cash 2 - 31.42 seconds (4 penalties)

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg

Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).

Second leg

Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm

Games on BeIN Sports

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

MATCH INFO

Euro 2020 qualifier

Russia v Scotland, Thursday, 10.45pm (UAE)

TV: Match on BeIN Sports 

UFC Fight Night 2

1am – Early prelims

2am – Prelims

4am-7am – Main card

7:30am-9am – press cons

The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases -  but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Director: Venkat Prabhu
Rating: 2/5