|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Friday, 31 December 2004 |
 |
|
 |
World | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Millions hunt food as tsunami toll passes 91,000 BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, (Reuters) Millions of people on Indian Ocean shores scrambled for food and clean water yesterday, as disease, thirst, hunger and panic threatened survivors of the most devastating tsunami on record. The death toll rose above 91,000, the latest increases coming mainly from Indonesia's Aceh province, which now accounts for over half of the dead. It lay nearest Sunday's undersea quake that triggered monstrous waves stretching all the way to Africa. Aftershocks, rumours and an Indian tsunami warning that proved wrong added to the chaos in a still terrified region. The true scale of the disaster may not be known for weeks, if ever, as rescuers battled to reach remote areas and grieving survivors searched for bodies of locals and tourists alike. The scale that was known was staggering. "This isn't just a situation of giving out food and water. Entire towns and villages need to be rebuilt from the ground up," said Rod Volway of CARE Canada, whose emergency team was one of the first into Aceh. As the world pledged $220 million in cash and sent a flotilla of ships and aircraft laden with supplies, history's biggest relief operation battled with the enormity of the task. "As many as 5 million people are not able to access what they need for living," said David Nabarro, head of a World Health Organisation (WHO) crisis team. Many villages and resorts are now mud-covered rubble, blanketed with the stench of corpses after the 9.0 magnitude quake, the most powerful in 40 years. Thousands of bodies rotting in the tropical heat were tumbled into mass graves, but health officials said polluted water posed a much greater threat than corpses. Holiday-makers were among those caught by surprise. Nearly 5,000 foreigners - half from Sweden and Germany - are missing, many of them in Thailand, where 710 foreigners have been confirmed dead. Authorities warned of many deaths from dysentery, cholera and typhoid fever caused by contaminated food and water, and malaria and dengue fever carried by mosquitoes. Four days after the tsunami, most people had given up hope of finding loved ones alive, realising the sea's power forbade the miracle rescues often seen after land-based quakes. Indonesian aircraft dropped food to isolated areas in Aceh along the western coast of Sumatra, an island the size of Florida, areas that may not be reached by land for some time. Survivors complained aid was only trickling in, despite a mountain of supplies stacking up at the local airport. Aid officials blamed poor coordination with the military. "There's no information. Just what you hear on the street. Coordination is very bad," said Zulkarnaen, 36, from Aceh's main city Banda Aceh. Hungry crowds jostling for aid biscuits besieged people delivering them in the town, so some drivers dared not stop. "Some cars come by and throw food like that. The fastest get the food, the strong one wins. The elderly and the injured don't get anything. We feel like dogs," said Usman, 43. In flattened Meulaboh town, the force of the waves pushed water up to the foot of tree-clad mountains two kilometres inland. Officials fear a third of its 120,000 residents have perished. The United Nations prepared what could be its largest appeal for donations to cope with its biggest relief effort. President George W. Bush said a U.S. pledge of $35 million was just a start, and sent an aircraft carrier group towards Sumatra and other ships including a helicopter carrier to the Bay of Bengal. Financial costs, estimated at up to $14 billion, are tiny relative to the human suffering. By comparison, Hurricane Andrew killed 50 people in 1992 but, with much of the damage in the United States, cost around $30 billion. In the Thai resort turned graveyard of Khao Lak, the grim task of retrieving bodies was interrupted briefly when a tremor cleared the beach of people in a flash. Dutch, German and Swiss forensic teams flew to Thailand to help identify now hard to recognise bodies by collecting dental evidence, DNA samples, fingerprints, photographs and X-rays. An immediate need was refrigeration to preserve bodies and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra promised refrigerated containers. Overnight aftershocks in Banda Aceh also sent people fleeing their homes. "I was sleeping, but fled outside in panic. If I am going to die, I will die here. Just let it be," said Kaspian, 26. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
