Padang, Indonesia - The search for survivors was called off Monday in the capital of Indonesia's West Sumatra province as hopes of finding anyone alive were slim five days after a powerful earthquake struck the region, an official said. "The search has been halted in Padang, but in other areas it is continuing," said Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman for the National Agency for Disaster Management.
Padang is the capital of West Sumatra and one of six districts badly affected by the earthquake.
Hotels, schools, and government buildings were among structures damaged by the quake.
Kardono said workers in Padang had been ordered to clear the rubble of collapsed buildings, where many were believed trapped, and collect bodies.
Meanwhile, health officials raced Monday to prevent outbreaks of disease in quake-affected areas.
Heavy rain soaked quake-affected areas Monday morning, wiping dust from the air but bringing more misery to those whose homes were destroyed in Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake.
The head of the Health Ministry's crisis centre, Rustam Pakaya, put the death toll from the quake at more than 1,200.
"Our health officials are monitoring closely the health of the survivors and the environmental conditions," Pakaya said.
"We have sprayed disinfectants in quake-affected areas to prevent the spread of diseases," he said.
Many victims were believed to be still trapped under collapsed buildings or buried by landslides triggered by the earthquake, he said.
The Health Ministry had sent 13 tons of baby food in the form of biscuits and 1,000 body bags, he said.
On Monday rescuers began clearing the debris of buildings as hopes of finding more survivors were fading, said Ade Edwar, head of West Sumatra's disaster coordinating agency.
Ridwan Gustiana, a doctor with the Ibu Foundation aid group, said lack of adequate shelter in Padang Pariaman district made the survivors vulnerable to disease.
"We fear that if the delay in providing aid supplies continues, the situation will be worse for the survivors," he said.
Some 70,000 homes in the quake-hit region are without tap water after a water treatment plant was damaged by the quake, officials said.
Survivors have complained that they have received little or no assistance days after the disaster.
Indonesian Welfare Minsiter Aburizal Bakrie said the government had allocated 6 trillion rupiah (625 million dollars) for the rebuilding of the quake-hit areas and another 100 billion rupiah in emergency funds.
Half of the 6 trillion rupiah would be used for repairing homes and providing basic necessities to the people, he said.
According to the National Disaster Management Agency, 178,671 homes were damaged and some 88,300 homes and other buildings were destroyed.
The West Sumatran government decided on Sunday to turn three hamlets buried by the landslides, where up to 600 people were believed killed, into a mass grave, as there was little hope of finding anyone alive.
