Aerial photos show scale of devastation after huge 10ft wave wipes out a beach festival

At least 384 people are confirmed dead and 540 are injured after a tsunami, caused by two earthquakes in quick succession, ripped through the Pacific Ring of Fire and crashed into an Indonesian coast city on Friday.

Indonesian media, citing the national disaster agency, said Saturday that almost 400 people had died in Palu City alone, on the the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. 

Fears are mounting for the the fishing town of Donggala, which was closer to the epicentre of the quake, but which rescuers have not been able to reach. 

The town of Mamuju was also severely affected but currently impossible to access due to damaged roads and disrupted telecommunications.

Many of those killed in Palu were swept away by giant waves more than 10ft high as they played on the beach in the scenic tourist town.

The number of casualties was no doubt increased by the fact that hundreds of people had descended on Palu's beach for a festival to celebrate the city's anniversary, due to start Friday night.

'When the (tsunami) threat arose yesterday, people were still doing their activities on the beach and did not immediately run and they became victims,' Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency BNPB said in news briefing in Jakarta. 

MailOnline