Local Editor

A powerful quake and tsunami left scores dead on the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi, officials said Saturday, as hospitals struggled to cope with hundreds of injured and rescuers scrambled to reach the stricken region.

The national disaster agency put the official death toll -- based on reports from medical facilities in the tsunami-struck city of Palu -- at 384, but warned the toll was likely to rise.

In the city -- home to around 350,000 people -- partially covered bodies lay on the ground near the shore, the morning after tsunami waves 1.5 meters [five feet] high slammed into the city.

Hospitals were overwhelmed by the influx of injured, with many people being treated in the open air, while other survivors helped to retrieve the remains of those who died.

One man was seen carrying the muddy corpse of a small child.

The tsunami was triggered by a strong quake that brought down buildings and sent locals fleeing for higher ground as a churning wall of water crashed into Palu, where there were widespread power blackouts.

Giving its first official death toll, Indonesia's national disaster agency said at least 48 people had been killed in Palu, while so far another 356 people had been injured.

It cautioned that there wold likely be many more deaths.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team