Astonishing Moment a Building ‘Floats’ Past After Tremors Liquefy the Ground, Swallowing 1,700 Homes in Indonesia as Mass Grave Is Dug for More Than a Thousand Victims

This is the astonishing moment a building ‘floated’ along a river of mud after the devastating Indonesian earthquake liquefied the ground.

Hundreds are feared trapped in mud and 1,700 homes were ‘swallowed up’ on the island of Sulawesi after tremors turned water-filled soil in to mush in a phenomenon known as liquefaction.

Terrifying footage, filmed from the metal roof of a house, shows large buildings and electricity pylons moving past after being ripped from their foundations.

The clip emerged as the death toll from the disaster climbed to more than 1,200 and officials prepared a mass grave with space for hundreds of victims of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami. Workers were seen hauling body bags into the 330ft-long tomb in Palu.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged of looters raiding collapsed shopping malls and hundreds of convicts escaping the ruins of their prison.

In the district of Sigi, 34 children were found dead under tsunami debris. They were all attending a Christian camp, Indonesian Red Cross spokeswoman Aulia Arriani said.

A 38-year-old man was pulled out alive from beneath a collapsed building three days after the 7.5 earthquake and 500mph tsunami devastated the city of Palu.

Indonesian TV stations showed video from the National Search and Rescue Agency of its workers freeing Sapri Nusin from the rubble of a destroyed finance building. He was conscious and talking to his rescuers as they worked by flashlight.

Footage shows the astonishing moment a building ‘floated’ along a river of mud after the deadly Indonesian earthquake and tsunami…