Thursday, October 28, 2010

Indonesian tsunami zone welcomes aid shipments


Relief efforts have been stepped up in Indonesia as three aid ships reached the worst-hit parts of the island chain devastated by Monday's tsunami.
Rescue teams are now at work on North Pagai island in the remote Mentawai Islands off western Sumatra.
More than 340 people are known to have died. Hundreds are still missing.
Indonesia's president has visited the islands, which were inundated after a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake triggered the tsunami three days ago.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cut short a trip to Vietnam to oversee the rescue effort, flying in a helicopter loaded with food and other basic necessities to the remote and inaccessible islands.
There he met both survivors and local officials, promising the central government would help West Sumatra's government to build temporary homes, health facilities and schools, his spokesman said.
The aid effort comes as Indonesia struggles with the devastation caused by this week's eruption of Mount Merapi in central Java, which killed more than 30 people.
Villages flattened
Local officials say most of the villages hit by the tsunami have been reached, with victims from the worst-hit areas being buried in mass graves.
But almost 400 remain unaccounted for, and rescuers are now working on the assumption that a large number of those missing will not be found alive, having been washed out to sea by the wave.
No warning
The relief effort was limited, said Hartje Robert Winerungan, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, as helicopters and aid ships were taking hours to reach affected areas.
n December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake off the coast of Aceh triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed a quarter of a million people in 13 countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
Sikakap hospital
Hundreds of injured survivors crowd into makeshift hospital; several villages nearby completely flattened
Macaronis resort
Villas destroyed; only the main building is still standing, which owner Mark Loughran said "saved everybody from being swept away"
Muntei Baru Baru
Entire village flattened, including 70 houses, a school and a church; dozens of victims buried in mass grave
Sabeugungung
Village completely destroyed, with 50 reported dead and 150 missing
Bosua
Some 10 people reported dead and 80 houses destroyed




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