Church yields bodies as Indonesia toll expected to rise

The bodies of dozens of students have been pulled from their landslide-swamped church in Sulawesi, officials said Tuesday, as an international effort to help nearly 200,000 Indonesia quake-tsunami victims ground into gear.

The discovery adds to the already-high death toll from Friday's disaster, when a powerful earthquake sent a devastating tsunami smashing into the seaside city of Palu.

At least 844 people are already known to have died, but officials say that number is certain to rise -- perhaps into the thousands -- as isolated communities are reached and the scale of the disaster becomes clearer.

Survivors are battling thirst and hunger, with food and clean water in short supply, and local hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of injured.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by a lack of heavy machinery, severed transport links and the scale of the damage.

As if to remind the world of the tectonic fragility of Indonesia, a series of quakes rocked the country on Tuesday morning, ...