Both the ivory and pangolin trade have been banned in Vietnam. But weak law enforcement in the communist state has allowed a black market to flourish and feed into a global multibillion dollar industry in animal parts and exotic pets.

Southeast Asian countries have become a busy thoroughfare for tusks trafficked from Africa and destined for other parts of Asia, mainly China. Pangolins are treasured in Vietnam and the region for their meat and alleged medicinal properties of their scales.

Authorities at Hanoi’s airport found 805 kilogrammes of pangolin scales as well as 193 kilogrammes of ivory and ivory-derived products in two dozen boxes on Friday, said a report in the official newspaper of the customs department.

The goods were sent from two companies based in Nigeria, according to the labelling. They had arrived on a September 21 flight but were never picked up.

“The [intended] recipients of the cargo package have refused to receive the goods,” the article said.

Photos showed a pile of the pangolin scales on the floor as inspectors went through the boxes, which were initially covered in an extra layer of wrapping and taped shut.

The tiny and shy pangolin, which resembles a scaly anteater, is the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal and despite bans the trade remains rampant.

Vietnam outlawed the ivory trade in 1992 but illegal trade still persists and shops sell ivory pre-dating the ban for decorative and medicinal purposes.

The haul is the latest to make headlines in Vietnam, where seizures are infrequent but usually large.

Last year police found 2.7 tonnes of tusks inside cartons on the back of a truck in the central province of Thanh Hoa.

On Monday, many survivors blocked trucks carrying aid to plunder the contents as many have gone hungry and thirsty for days.

A video circulating on Twitter, said to have been taken in Donggala regency, also shows people intercepting a relief aid truck.

Iring2 an bantuan Bank Mandiri Syariah ke arah palu, di jarah massa di daerah Pasangkayu – Donggala..

Padahal kalo liat kondisi bangunan.. daerah yg terjadi penjarahan nampak masih bagus..

Masih mau bantah, JENDRAL ??!!

Masih permisif soal ini?? pic.twitter.com/CCXF0gEmbw

— #CalegIdaman (@TopeRendusara) 10:07 AM – Oct 1, 2018

The Jakarta Post‘s correspondent saw people waiting for fuel at a Pertamina gas station asking the entourage of journalists and officials from Jakarta for drinking water. “Drinking water, drinking water, please,” some survivors said to passing motorists.

Survivors of an earthquake in Palu wait in line for fuel at a Pertamina gas station in the city on Oct. 1, 2018. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)

“I ran into a mother and her child at the airport who asked me to share some of my water with her child,” correspondent Andi Hajramurni said. “‘Just a little, enough for my child” Hajramurni quoted the mother as saying to her.

A pregnant woman was also found exhausted outside the airport. She said she was upset to see aid being unloaded from the planes but none reaching the survivors waiting to leave the city at the airport.

Thousands crowded Mutiara Sis Al Jufri airport to leave the devastated city while staving off hunger and thirst under the scorching heat. The survivors have been waiting for a chance to flee the city since Saturday, camping outside on mats or cardboard. They were hoping to catch a plane to Makassar to later go to their respective hometowns.

“What is important is to get out of Palu. We have agreed to meet Papa in Makassar and then go to Jakarta,” Paramita said Monday. The 29-year-old, who sustained an injury to her leg from falling concrete debris, is taking her two sisters with her.

Desperate and impatient, the survivors were occupying part of the runway.

An airport official, Syaeful, said as of Sunday night, about 5,000 people had waited for a plane at the airport. “The number keeps increasing,” he said.

Earthquake survivors in Palu, Central Sulawesi, crowd Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport in Palu in a desperate attempt to leave the devastated area on Monday. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)

Some businesses, such as at Masomba traditional market, have opened for businesses and some survivors have bought food supplies. “I bought some fish,” the Post‘s correspondent Ruslan Sangadji, who is also a survivor of the quake, said Monday.

However, food and clean water are scarce and many are desperate.

In Buluri subdistrict, Ulujadi district in the western part of Palu, survivors blocked roads to intercept trucks carrying food supplies. Police officers in the area are reported to be unable to hold off the crowd.

Similarly, residents in Tawaeli district in central Palu have taken to a nearby port to intercept government aid arriving on ships. The police were also reported to be unable to ward off the desperate crowd.

A handful of residents even looted nearby convenience stores for any life-sustaining item they could find, since aid from the government had not yet arrived.

Many also attempted to siphon fuel from gas stations around the city over the weekend as none of the city’s gas stations were in operation following the earthquake and tsunami that hit the city on Friday.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Sunday asked quake survivors to be patient as they wait for aid to be distributed upon arriving in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi.

Jokowi said it would take one week to prepare the airport so airplanes carrying the supplies could land safely.

“I’m aware there are a lot of issues that need to be resolved as soon as possible, and I hope the people will remain patient in this situation,” he told the reporters on Sunday.

On Monday, Jokowi said he would send “as much food as possible” immediately.

Several people also reportedly robbed ATMs and jewelry shops. Twitter user @MpuAnon posted a video showing gold shops that looked like they had been looted.

Toko Emas. Habis dijarah.

— MpuAnon (@mpuanon) 11:17 PM – Sep 30, 2018

“Gold shops. Post-looting,” the Twitter user said in the caption.

The police are reported to have ordered a shoot on sight policy against such robbers.

In an attempt to maintain and restore order in the region, the National Police and the National Military have employed personnel to guard several gas stations and convenience stores across Palu, according to the police’s head of communication Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo.

Previously, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo advised against looting – not even in the wake of a natural disaster – as the act is considered criminal.

“There’s no justification whatsoever for looting. Everyone’s equally affected by the disaster; their shops destroyed, shopping malls devastated,” Tjahjo said during a televised interview on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Prior to Sunday’s statement, news spread on social media that the government had approved of the looting at convenience stores and that the expenses would be covered by the state.

However, Tjahjo denied it, saying that what the government had approved was the transfer of aid funds to the Central Sulawesi administration, to be used for food supplies for survivors.

One prison in tsunami-struck Palu city — built to hold just 120 people — saw most of its 581 inmates storm past guards and escape to freedom through walls collapsed by the massive 7.5 magnitude shake.

“Things were initially fine…but not long after the quake, water erupted from under the prison yard causing prisoners to panic and then run onto the road,” said Ministry of Justice official Sri Puguh Utami, adding that the water was not from the tsunami.

“I’m sure they escaped because they feared they would be affected by the earthquake. This is for sure a matter of life and death for the prisoners,” she added.

Inmates had fled from another overcapacity facility in Palu by breaking down its main door and another in Donggala, an area also hit by the disaster.

The Donggala jail was set on fire and all 343 inmates were now on the run, Utami said.

The arson was thought to have been sparked by angry detainees demanding to see their families.

“They panicked after learning that Donggala was badly hit by the earthquake,” Utami said.

“Prison officials did negotiate with prisoners about allowing them to go to check on their families. But some prisoners were apparently not patient enough and committed the arson.”

Some of the convicts were jailed for corruption and narcotics offences, she said.

Five people convicted of terror-related crimes had been moved from the prison just days before the disaster.

Just over 100 prisoners at the two facilities in Palu were still in jail, but overstretched guards were struggling to keep them fed.

“The prison no longer had enough food,” Utami said.

“Officials then tried to buy supplies from stores around the prison that were still open.”

According to a statement issued by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) via its social media accounts, basic necessities that are still urgently needed to help the victims are fuel (diesel fuel and gasoline), drinking water, medical personnel, medicines and field hospitals, tents, tarps, blankets, stretchers, water tanks, food, lamps, generator sets, emergency kitchens, body bags, shrouds and baby food.

Humanitarian organizations have extended a helping hand, accepting donations in the form of funds, goods and volunteer work. Here is the list of organizations through which you can offer assistance to the Palu and Donggala earthquake victims:

Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT Indonesia)

Formed in 2005, the foundation has been actively involved in humanitarian activities, supported by public donors and companies via corporate social responsibility partnerships. The foundation makes its annual financial reports public and accountable for its donors and stakeholders.

Transfers can be made via these bank accounts:

BNI Syariah 0270 360 372

Mandiri 101 000 4802 482

ACT also has an online donation link via Kitabisa.com: https://kitabisa.com/peduligempadonggala.

Care Line: 021-2940 6565

Website: http://www.act.id

Twitter and Instagram: @ACTforHumanity

Facebook: AksiCepatTanggap

Read also: Central Sulawesi quake: What we know so far

Kitabisa.com

The crowdfunding website was established in 2013 and is actively campaigning for various causes including medical treatment costs and disaster relief. Its online donation pages are transparent, donors are notified when a campaign reaches its target. Kitabisa.com is also audited by the Public Accountant office and has funded 14,329 campaigns with 966,036 donors listed.

Several campaigns have been launched to help the Palu earthquake victims on Kitabisa.com, enabling you to choose whichever one you wish to channel your donations through.

Website: www.kitabisa.com

Facebook: KitabisaDotCom

Twitter and Instagram: @KitaBisaCom

YouTube: KitaBisaIndonesia

Tokopedia

Known as one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in Indonesia, Tokopedia also houses several credible donation channels such as its own Donasi Palu, Rumah Yatim, Baznas, Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB), Dompet Dhuafa, PKPU Human Initiative, Rumah Zakat, ACT, Lembaka Zakat Al Azhar, NU Care – LazisNU and Tangan Pengharapan.

Donations can be made by following this link, where you can choose which channel you wish to extend your help through: https://www.tokopedia.com/donasi-online/

Those wanting to donate in a different way can attend the For Palu & Donggala Charity Concert that will be held on Monday, Oct. 1 at Paviliun 28, South Jakarta at 7.30 p.m. The concert will feature Bonita & The HusBand, Riuh Sunyi, Duta Pamungkas, Seruang, Gabriel Mayo and M A N.

Many claimed the agency had ended or revoked the tsunami warning too early, as high waves eventually hit several areas in the province, including the provincial capital of Palu, causing a high number of casualties.

BMKG chairwoman Dwikorita Karnawati, however, said the decision had been made after the agency received information, including a field observation from a staff member of BMKG’s office in Palu.

“The staff member reported that he had seen traces of tsunami waves at the harbor at around 6:27 p.m. local time, including a stranded boat. At that time, the height of the water at the harbor was around 30 centimeters,” she told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Sunday.

The agency, the chairwoman added, also analyzed mobile phone footage showing a tsunami hitting a coastal area of Palu that circulated online on Friday. The footage purportedly shows a number of restaurants near Palu Grand Mall being swept away by the wave.

“According to our analysis, three waves hit Palu’s beach around dusk, with the third one and the highest sweeping away houses and kiosks. The waves hit the beach within a span of 2.5 minutes,” Dwikorita said, adding that the tsunami alert ended at 6:37 p.m., minutes after the third wave hit land.

She also dismissed claims that there were more tsunami waves after the alert ended. “After the third wave, there were no more tsunami waves.”

As of Sunday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) had recorded 832 deaths during the disaster, while 540 others were injured and receiving treatment at hospitals. The disaster has also displaced more than 16,000 people taking shelter at 24 camps across the region.

They were transported by a C-130 Hercules military aircraft.

Makassar’s Hasanuddin Air Base spokesman Maj. Henny Purwani said on Sunday that the injured survivors were being treated at the Wahidin Sudirohusodo Air Force Hospital and Sayang Rakyat Hospital in Makassar.

“Some of them [who originally came from different cities but resided in Palu] decided to continue their journey to their respective home towns. Those who chose to stay in Makassar are staying at the Siang Haj dormitory,” she said.

A survivor, Mesda, 40, told The Jakarta Post that she would continue her journey to Manado, North Sulawesi.

“Our home was destroyed. We have nowhere to live. We’re going to Manado, where my husband’s family lives,” she said upon arrival in Makassar.

Meanwhile, families of survivors have been scrambling to get to Palu to find their loved ones. Telecommunication signals are still down.

“I received reports that my brother, sister and niece are still missing. My parents are safe but I can’t talk to them just yet. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat thinking about them,” said Adi, 20, a Palu resident studying in Bandung, West Java, who flew to Makassar as soon as he heard the news.

Hundreds of people were waiting at the air base looking for an opportunity to fly to Palu with the rescue teams.

The authorities reported that death toll had reached 832.

BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told reporters during a press briefing on Sunday that authorities had found 66 of the foreigners and declared them safe.

Two of the rescued tourists, a Singaporean and a Belgian, have been taken to Jakarta.

According to Sutopo, 32 Thai tourists are safe in Palu, while 21 Chinese citizens are taking shelter at a hotel in Palu. Meanwhile, 10 Vietnamese are safe and at Palu’s Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport camp. A German tourist is reportedly safe and staying at a resort in Donggala.

However, authorities have not been able to locate three French citizens and a Malaysian tourist, while a South Korean is believed to be trapped under the rubble of the Roa Roa hotel in Palu.

The National Search and Rescue Agency’s (Basarnas) team has begun evacuating guests from the hotel but as of Sunday morning, only six guests were confirmed to have survived the earthquake and one had been confirmed dead.

A tsunami hit Palu, Donggala and Mamuju in Central Sulawesi on Friday evening, triggered by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that rocked the province at 5:02 p.m. Jakarta time. The epicenter of the quake was 27 kilometers northeast of Donggala and 10-km-deep.

“We are now on co-branding [terms] with Wonderful Indonesia. It is only logical, as Grab [is] available in 137 cities and serving 100 million clients in Southeast Asia,” Grab Indonesia managing director Ridzki Kramadibrata told Tempo.co.

In the Wonderful Indonesia co-branding partnership, Grab offers interesting features as well as tourist information and promotional offers through its smartphone application.

Ridzki pointed out that local and foreign travelers alike would be able to use a safe, quality transportation service named GrabCar Rent Wonderful Indonesia, through which cars could be rented for 4-12 hours, and GrabCar Plus Wonderful Indonesia (with five-star rated drivers) to explore the beauty of the archipelago.

The application also includes restaurant recommendations to guide travelers to the culinary highlights. Information on local restaurants serving authentic local dishes available for order through GrabFood is also featured in the app.

Read also: Ministry launches mobile app for exploring Indonesia’s national parks

Moreover, to make Grab easier to use by travelers, the Grab Chat feature is now equipped with a translation function that can translate some languages into Indonesian and vice versa.

“For instance, when there is a traveler from Vietnam or Thailand, they can use Grab Chat, which would automatically translate words according to language setting in their phones. Aside from that, we also have photo-sharing feature to communicate pick-up points – very helpful for travelers,” said Ridzki.

Later on, Grab is set to feature recommended tourist destinations to its customers.

“We keep working to help improve people’s wellbeing in the country [and] we are ready to assist Wonderful Indonesia to succeed and develop Indonesia’s potential as the new economic powerhouse in the world,” said Ridzki.

Grab now operates in 235 cities across eight countries with more than 100 million users and four million driver partners in Southeast Asia.

A general view of a tsunami devastated area in Talise beach, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 30 September 2018. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

“The casualties will keep increasing,” said national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, whose agency announced 832 deaths.

“Today we will start the mass burial of victims, to avoid the spread of disease.”

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the final death toll in the north of Sulawesi island could be in the “thousands” since many regions have still not been reached.

“It feels very tense,” said 35-year-old mother Risa Kusuma, comforting her feverish baby boy at an evacuation centre in the gutted coastal city of Palu. “Every minute an ambulance brings in bodies. Clean water is scarce. The mini-markets are looted everywhere.”

Indonesia’s Metro TV on Sunday broadcast footage from a coastal community in Donggala, close to the epicentre of the quake. Some waterfront homes appeared crushed but a resident said most people fled to higher ground after the quake struck.

“When it shook really hard, we all ran up into the hills,” a man identified as Iswan told the TV.

A general view of a tsunami devastated mosque in Talise beach, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 30 September 2018. According to reports, at least 384 people have died as a result of a series of powerful earthquakes that hit central Sulawesi and triggered a tsunami. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in the region Sunday afternoon.

In Palu on Sunday aid was trickling in, the Indonesian military had been deployed and search-and-rescue workers were doggedly combing the rubble for survivors — looking for dozens feared trapped under one hotel alone.

“Communication is limited, heavy machinery is limited… it’s not enough for the numbers of buildings that collapsed,” Nugroho said.

The 7.5-magnitude quake struck Friday, sparking a tsunami that ripped apart the city’s coastline.

Save The Children program director Tom Howells said access was a “huge issue” hampering relief efforts.

“Aid agencies and local authorities are struggling to reach several communities around Donggala, where we are expecting there to be major damage and potential large-scale loss of life,” Howells said.

Indonesian earthquake and tsunami survivors receive medical treatment outside a military hospital in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 29 September 2018. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

Dozens of corpses lay in an open courtyard at the back of a Palu hospital, baking under a fierce tropical sun, with only one building separating it from an open triage site on the opposite side.

“I have one child — he’s missing,” Baharuddin, a 52-year-old Palu resident, told AFP as he stood on floor tiles smeared with blood.

“I last spoke to him before he went to school in the morning.”

The disaster agency said it believed about 71 foreigners were in Palu when the quake struck, with most safe.

Three French nationals and a South Korean, who may have been staying at a flattened hotel, had not yet been accounted for, it added.

Amid the levelled trees, overturned cars, concertinaed homes and flotsam tossed up to 50 metres inland, survivors and rescuers struggled to come to grips with the scale of the disaster.

On Saturday evening residents fashioned makeshift bamboo shelters or slept out on dusty playing fields, fearing powerful aftershocks would topple damaged homes and bring yet more carnage.

A handout photo made available by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows Indonesian Air Force members boarding military transport aircraft at Halim Perdanakusumah Military Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, 30 September 2018. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

C-130 military transport aircraft with relief supplies managed to land at the main airport in Palu, which reopened to humanitarian flights and limited commercial flights, but only to pilots able to land by sight alone.

Satellite imagery provided by regional relief teams showed severe damage at some of the area’s major ports, with large ships tossed on land, quays and bridges trashed and shipping containers thrown around.

Hospitals were overwhelmed by the influx of injured, with many people being treated in the open air. There were widespread power blackouts.

“People here need aid — food, drink, clean water,” said Anser Bachmid, a 39-year-old Palu resident.

– ‘I just ran’ –

Dramatic video footage captured from the top floor of a parking ramp as the tsunami rolled in showed waves toppling several buildings and inundating a large mosque.

“I just ran when I saw the waves hitting homes on the coastline,” said Palu resident Rusidanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

“This was a terrifying double disaster,” said Jan Gelfand, a Jakarta-based official at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

“The Indonesian Red Cross is racing to help survivors.”

Images showed a double-arched yellow bridge had collapsed with its two metal arches twisted as cars bobbed in the water below.

A key access road had been badly damaged and was partially blocked by landslides, the disaster agency said.

 – Disaster-prone –

Friday’s tremor was also felt in the far south of the island in its largest city Makassar and on neighbouring Kalimantan, Indonesia’s portion of Borneo island.

As many as 2.4 million people could have felt the quake, the disaster agency said.

The initial quake struck as evening prayers were about to begin in the world’s biggest Muslim majority country on the holiest day of the week.

Indonesia is one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations.

It lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Earlier this year a series of powerful quakes hit Lombok, killing more than 550 people on the holiday island and neighbouring Sumbawa.

Indonesia has been hit by a string of other deadly quakes including a devastating 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Sumatra in December 2004.

That Boxing Day quake triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

Malaysians were aflutter over the news that the movie based on the book Billion Dollar Whale will be produced by Crazy Rich Asians star Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh in her new deal with Ivanhoe Pictures, an SK Global Company.

In a “casting call” on The Star Online Facebook page, we asked readers to recommend those who they think can play the roles of the personalities mentioned in the best-selling book.

This includes personalities such as former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, and fugitive financier Jho Low.

Asked if he would take on the role, Dr Leong said he definitely would.

“It’s such an important story to tell, especially for Malaysia and Malaysians. I would consider it a service to the nation, really,” he added.

Dr Leong admitted that it was “really remarkable” how he bore an uncanny resemblance to Jho Low, noting that they wear almost the same type of spectacles.

“Apparently he speaks Hokkien, and so can I! True story – two people have actually seriously asked if I was Jho Low. Plus, I like wearing suits when I perform, and it doesn’t help that 90% of Jho Low’s photos are of him in suits,” he quipped.

Other names that came up for the titular role were Randall Park, who played North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in The Interview, South Korean pop star Psy of Gangnam Style fame, and JB-born NY-based actor-comedian Ronny Chieng.

Thiru Senthan also suggested that actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen play Najib’s part.

However, Lau Chee Kin had another local veteran actor in mind to portray the former premier: “Jalaluddin Hassan! He has the gray hair, he can mimic his voice and speech mannerism. But he will need a fake moustache.”

Zahir Akhtar suggested Hollywood comedian actor Jack Black for the part instead, while Kelvin Ong U-Lin and a few others felt that comedian Harith Iskander should take on the role.

Ong also suggested tapping actor Rowan Atkinson of Mr Bean fame to play the role of former 1MDB president and chief executive officer Arul Kanda.

With regards to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, several were of the opinion that actress and singer Adibah Noor should portray her part.

Shafiq Razali also suggested actress Delimawati of Hantu Kak Limah fame, while Amr Syahir chose television personality Maria Tunku Sabri.

For the role of Najib’s stepson, Florian had another funnyman in mind to play the film producer, one that is perhaps the best in Singapore, JB, and some say Batam – Gurmit Singh as Riza Aziz.

Actor-host Gurmit is best known for his role as “Ah Beng” contractor Phua Chu Kang.

Roy Shu was hopeful that the film crew would “find the real person” when it came to the roles of Leonardo DiCaprio, Miranda Kerr, Kim Kardashian, Elva Hsiao, and Paris Hilton, through it remains to be seen if any of the A-list names will want to make a cameo in the movie.