The death toll from earthquakes and a tsunami that hit Indonesia's Sulawesi island has risen to 1,944, the country's disaster management agency says.
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More than 74,000 are still displaced 10 days after the disaster, said Willem Rampangilei, chairman of the National Disaster Management Agency.
Authorities are trying to verify reports that thousands of people are still missing from the villages of Petobo and Balaroa, where homes were sucked into a sinkhole and mud during the disaster.
Meanwhile, children in the city of Palu have begun returning to school on Monday to tidy up their classrooms and help gather data on how many of them will be coming back.
The 7.5 magnitude quake brought down many buildings in the small city, while tsunami waves smashed into its beachfront.
But the biggest killer was probably soil liquefaction, which happens when a powerful quake turns the ground into a liquid mire and which obliterated several Palu neighbourhoods.
No one knows how many people are missing, especially in the areas hit by liquefaction, but it could be as high as 5,000, the national disaster agency said.
At one high school, teenagers swept up broken glass in the classrooms.
"It's sad to see our school like this," said pupil Dewi Rahmawati, 17.
School principal Kasiludin said authorities told all teachers to show up for work from Monday to collect information on student numbers.
"We won't force the students to come back because many are traumatised. But we must start again soon to keep their spirits up and so they don't fall behind," he said.
The school had lost at least seven students and one teacher, he said.
At the SMP Negeri 15 Palu middle school, fewer than 50 of its 697 students showed up.
School principal Abdul Rashid said he was aware of four students killed in the quake.
"Classes haven't started. We're only collecting data to find out how many students are safe," he said.
"I'm still waiting for the Ministry of Education to give us instructions on when to begin classes. For now, I don't think we're ready. Many children are traumatised and frightened."
One boy chatting in the school compound with friends said he was disappointed that so few of his class mates had shown up.
"I haven't heard from so many of them. I want to think positively; I hope they are OK," said Muhamad Islam Bintang Lima, dressed in the school uniform of white shirt and navy blue trousers.
Most of the dead from the quake and tsunami were in Palu, the region's main urban centre.
A spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency said on Sunday searches for bodies would stop on Thursday.
Australian Associated Press
