Transcript for Death toll soars past 800 in Indonesia quake and tsunami

Now overseas to the race to find survivors of that massive disaster in Indonesia. A huge 7.5 earthquake causing a tsunami in a ravaged several major cities Friday evening. More than 800 dead. The toll is expected to rise. ABC's Ian Pannell has the latest. Good morning, Ian. Reporter: Good morning, robin. Frantic is right. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, but there was fear the death toll could go higher. That's because they are struggling to reach the people in the tsunami. A desperate search under way for survivors. After a massive wall of water surging hundreds of miles an hour, ripping through a large island in Indonesia three days ago, triggered by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. Hundreds attending a beach festival when this tsunami crashed into the area, waves reaching as high as 20 feet. In cell phone video, people are scrambling for their lives as the wave moves in. A man yelling and warning people as the tsunami begins to strike. Many more feared dead after the tsunami hit, dragging people out to sea. From the air, the sheer scale of destruction is clear. Home after home, life after life destroyed. Officials saying more than 800 killed. Many more bodies may be buried in the wreckage. At the earthquake's epicenter, cut off. More than a million people were living there. Communication towers ripped apart. The death toll expected to rise after many areas have been checked. More than 200 aftershocks have shaken the area. The president touring the island in Palu. Amid the devastation, heroism. This 15-year-old girl pulled from the rubble, and an air traffic controller staying behind to help the last plane out of Palu before the tsunami hit. It cost him his life, but likely saving hundreds of others. And questions this morning about that tsunami warning system. One possibility is that the earthquake cut the electricity that powers that warning system meaning many people didn't know this deadly wave was heading their way, robin. Ian, thank you. Just devastating. We'll move onto the mysterious

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