Padang - Search and rescue (SAR) teams from foreign countries that have been conducting operations in quake-hit West Sumatra have now returned to their respective countries.

    "We have returned them to their respective countries and now all search and rescue operations will be carried out by Indonesian teams," the deputy for emergency operations of the National Agency for Disaster Control (BNPB), Soetrisno, said at a press conference held by BNPB and the United Nations-Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (UNOCHA) here on Wednesday.

     He said the return of the foreign teams had already been coordinated with the government as emergency operations to rescue survivors by the foreign teams had been concluded.

     He said the operations were now being taken over by teams from BNPN and other domestic teams.

     "We will keep working to evacuate victims and also search for more possible survivors," he said.

     He denied rumors that the foreign teams` return was related to a lack of coordination with the government.

     "We have been coordinating well since we arrived and also with regard to information on disaster-affected areas and so we could work well," UNOCHA coordinator Michael Chang said.

     He said the foreign teams worked maximally with the help of the Indonesian government.

     "We just helped. Before we arrived on October 2, Indonesian search and rescue teams had already started searching for victims," he said.

     He said a total of 688 volunteers from 130 international organizations had given humanitarian assistance to find and rescue survivors buried under the ruble.

    Based on latest data, a total of 740 people had died while hundreds are believed to be still buried under the rubble.

    The dead victims were found in seven districts and in the provincial capital of Padang.

    The death toll in Padang was recorded at 328, in Padang Pariaman district 292, Pariaman city 37, Pesisir Selatan district 4, Solok 3, Pasaman Barat 3 and Agam 32.

    Some 295 people are still unaccounted for, namely 237 in Padang Pariaman, 54 in Agam and four in Padang.
   
-Antara, 08 october 2009-