Indonesia tsunami death toll rises to 429

Search efforts for the 154 people still missing in the disaster zone of the deadly tsunami that has killed at least 429 people continued on Tuesday, with some officials admitting privately that the chance of finding more survivors alive was slim.

At the Tanjung Lesung beach resort, where the pop band Seventeen was performing when the tsunami struck, resort director Kunto Wijoyo told the Guardian he spent Sunday morning helping to carry some of the 106 bodies of people who died at the holiday retreat.

“There were men, women and babies,” he said, adding that he hoped authorities would consider building a dam in the area to prevent further similar disasters.

A grass lawn nearby was strewn with crumpled metal that had formed the band’s stage, with half-destroyed musical instrument cases lying among the wreckage.

A policeman at the resort, large parts of which were obliterated by the waves, said rescue teams were legally obliged to keep searching for the missing people for seven days, beginning last Sunday morning.

Soldiers combed the coast, flying drones overhead as torrential rain contributed to tricky driving conditions for ambulances ferrying injured people to local hospitals.