Up to 400 people are now feared dead in the ethnic violence in Borneo, with reports that the violence is spreading on the island.
Indonesian security officials flew into the central Kalimantan province yesterday in the first serious response from the Indonesian government to the violence between indigenous Dayaks and immigrants from Madura island off Java.
Gangs were yesterday reported to be roaming the streets of the provincial town Sampit with spears.
Around 9,000 refugees - believed to be mainly Madurese - remained camped in the town while more than 10,000 refugees were evacuated on navy ships and vehicle convoys over the weekend.
Plumes of smoke rose from several places across the town, which is home to several hundred thousand people.
The town was the scene of massacres in the last week when some victims were beheaded and had their heads paraded through the streets.
While local officials said the confirmed death toll was 270, the state news agency Antara said around 400 people had been killed and dozens wounded.
The Indonesian delegation, which arrived yesterday, was led by the Chief Security Minister, Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. It included the military chief, Admiral Widodo. They said top priority was to save lives.
Indonesia's beleaguered President Abdurrahman Wahid, at the centre of corruption allegations, said on a trip to the Middle East that the country was in danger of disintegration because unnamed politicians were undermining his rule.
There was some concern at reports that troops had not been ordered to disarm the gangs in Sampit, 465 miles north-east of Jakarta.
A local government spokesman in Sampit said about 9,000 refugees were still camped in the town. Once the remaining refugees had left, there would be virtually no Madurese left in Sampit.
Local television said four refugees, including two children, had died in recent days because of sickness and hunger.
Supplies of food and water are said to be running out fast and refugees are fighting each other for basic essentials, the station said.
All paramedics and officials at Sampit's biggest hospital have fled, leaving behind some 200 corpses, it said.
Police have arrested about 80 people over the violence, including three alleged masterminds.
Witnesses and officials say the Sampit violence began as fighting between the long-time rival groups but has shifted into one-sided Dayak attacks on Madurese.