Special report: Earthquake in Indonesia

    YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia, May 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 5,427 people have died in a 5.9-magnitude earthquake, which hit Indonesia's Java island on Saturday, while the international community has pledged 47.7 million U.S. dollars in emergency aid, according to the government officials.

    Indonesia's Social Affairs Ministry on Tuesday raised the toll to 5,427, from the previous figure of 5,136, saying the majority of the dead were located in the Bantul district, south of the central city of Yogyakarta that bore much of the quake's impact.

    On Monday evening, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yuri Thamrin said a number of countries and organizations had responded with offers of cash aid, which totaled 47.7 million dollars.

    The financial aid comes from Australia, Britain, Canada, China,Cuba, France, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and European Union, he said.

    Meanwhile, the Indonesian government has given permits for foreign planes carrying relief supplies and paramedics to land in the quake zone.

    Cargo planes from Singapore and Malaysia landed Sunday. A U.N. plane carrying emergency supplies, including food, water and tents,touched down on Monday at Solo, a town 60 km north of Yogyakarta.

Chinese medical team arrives at the Adi Sucipto Airport in Indonesia's Central Java town of Solo, some 60 km north of Yogyakarta province on May 30, 2006. (Xinhua Photo)

    A Chinese medical team arrived in Java just after midnight Tuesday to join the international relief efforts after the devastating tremor struck the island.

    A plane carrying the 40-member team as well as five tons of medical supplies landed at Adi Sucipto Airport in the Central Javatown of Solo.

    "We will depart to Bantul once our stuff are completely unloaded. First we have to find the right place and then begin to work as soon as possible," Zhao Heping, deputy director of the China Earthquake Administration, told Xinhua upon the team's arrival.

    Cargo planes were also reported to arrive from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

    As emergency aid is pouring in, supplies are badly needed in the quake-stricken areas. Local officials said supplies were not being delivered fast enough to victims as groups of quake survivors filled up the main roads in Yogyakarta to beg for money to buy food.

    Many survivors had to spend the rainy and cold Sunday night outdoor, sleeping inside truck cabin, on plastic sheets and even on newspapers.

    Some others were trying to find building materials from the rubble to build temporary shelters and health centers, as electricity and water supplies were still down in much of the region on Monday.

    The vehicle convoy of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was delayed Monday on road to the refugee camps in Bantul, due to theon-street donation. He ordered the officials to speed up the aid delivery.

    "The aid distribution must be sped up," the president said during his visit to Imogiri district in Bantul.

    President Susilo, who has been in the quake-areas since Saturday evening, has decided to postpone his June 5-9 visits to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea to coordinate the relief work, presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said.

    The seismic upheaval jolted Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java and East Java Saturday morning, causing a heavy toll that is still rising and leaving more than 10,000 others injured. Up to 200,000 people were rendered homeless. Enditem