Indons comb seaside for survivors amid decomposing corpses
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Dozens of bloated bodies littered the streets of Indonesia's Banda Aceh city on Monday as soldiers and desperate relatives searched for survivors of an earthquake and tidal waves that killed at least 4,491 people.
On the outskirts of the city, some 500 bodies collected by emergency workers lay under plastic tents, rotting in the tropical heat, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Sunday's earthquake destroyed dozens of buildings in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, before triggering tidal waves that turned the streets into rivers.
Some 3,000 people died in the city, which has been virtually cut off since the quake struck due to power cuts and downed telephone wires.
Communication was still cut off to several other parts of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island.
The island bore the brunt of the destruction from the 9.0-magnitude quake, which was centered just off its western coast.
The quake - the world's most powerful in 40 years - sent massive tidal waves slamming into coastlines across Asia.
More than 13,800 people died in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, the Maldives, Somalia and Bangladesh.
On Sumatra, a million people were left homeless, the health ministry said.
Villagers in Sunadon district, near northern Aceh's Lhokseumawe city, picked through the debris of their ruined houses amid the smell of decomposing bodies.
One man, Rajali, said he had lost his wife and two children to flooding and couldn't find dry ground to bury them.
Islamic tradition demands that the deceased be buried as soon as possible.
"What shall I do?'' said the 55-year-old, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name.
"I don't know where to bury my wife and children.''
At least 4,491 people were killed on Sumatra island and on Nias, an isolated island that lies west of Sumatra, State Secretary Yusril Mahendra told reporters in Jakarta.
"We have ordered 15,000 troops into the field to search for survivors,'' said military spokesman Edy Sulistiadi.
"They are mostly retrieving corpses.''
Refugees in Lhokseumawe, many of whom had spent the night sleeping outside on open ground, complained that little or no aid had reached them.
Dr. Tambah Taibsyah at the city's Cut Meutia hospital, which was treating some 100 seriously injured patients, said "we are now running out of medicines.''
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was in Papua province visiting the victims of a recent earthquake there, declared three days of national mourning.
He was scheduled to visit Aceh, home to about 4.3 million people, later Monday.
Separatist violence has torn Aceh for the past 26 years, and Jakarta has prevented foreign journalists and international aid agency representatives from visiting the region for more than a year.
It appeared likely the restrictions on aid workers would be lifted to let in emergency supplies.
"The military will support the distribution of foreign aid in Aceh and allow foreign workers and journalists into the province as long as the government approves it,'' said military Col. Achmad Yani Basuki.
Earlier reports
LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP) - Thousands of soldiers combed seaside villages in northwestern Indonesia on Monday for victims and survivors from a massive undersea earthquake and tidal waves that killed at least 4,448 people and left more than a million homeless, officials said.
Most of the death and destruction occurred in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra Island.
Villages along the coast were flattened by tidal waves triggered by Sunday's quake and floodwaters that surged as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) inland.
"We have ordered 15,000 troops into the field to search for survivors,'' said military spokesman Edy Sulistiadi. "They are mostly retrieving corpses.''
At least 3,000 of the 4,448 people who died in that province were killed in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, either from flooding or quake damage, Health Ministry official Pitoyo said.
Eighty-three were killed in neighboring north Sumatra province and on the island of Nias, to the west of Sumatra close and the nearest land to the epicenter of the 9.0-magnitude quake, said Pitoyo, who goes by a single name.
Communication links to several regions in Aceh were still cut off some 24 hours after the quake struck, raising fears that the death toll would rise further.
Tens of thousands of people fled their homes after the earthquake, the most powerful in 40 years, sent massive tidal waves slamming into coastlines across Asia.
More than 11,600 people died in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, the Maldives, Somalia and Bangladesh.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was in Papua province visiting the victims of an earthquake there earlier this month, declared three days of national mourning.
He was scheduled to visit Aceh province, which is home to 4.3 million people, later Monday.
Aceh has been hit by separatist violence for 26 years, and Jakarta has prevented foreign journalists and international aid agency representatives from visiting the region for more than a year.
It appeared likely the restrictions on international aid workers would be lifted to allow emergency supplies to be sent to the province.
"The military will support the distribution of foreign aid in Aceh and allow foreign workers and journalists into the province as long as the government approves it,'' said military Col. Achmad Yani Basuki. - AP
For Another perspective from the Jakarta Post, a partner of Asia News Network, click here
News Poll
- Teacher held for oral sex on Year Two girl
- Lau sought psychiatrist’s help after death of fan’s dad
- Police shoot dead leader of ‘Berong Gang’
- Australian court sentences Malaysian who posed as taxi driver
- Teoh Beng Hock exhumed for second autopsy (Update)
- Foreign woman falls to death at high-end condo
- Prime Minister comes up with plan to end crisis in MCA
- 15-year-old held for trying to kill mum with acid-laced sarong
- Indonesia seizes 75tons of explosive material from M’sia
- Fresh polls in six to eight months if new mechanism used
- Australian court sentences Malaysian who posed as taxi driver
- Teacher held for oral sex on Year Two girl
- 10 states see increase in number of dengue cases
- AirAsia launches new flights to three Indian cities
- Teoh Beng Hock exhumed for second autopsy (Update)
- Lau sought psychiatrist’s help after death of fan’s dad
- Prime Minister comes up with plan to end crisis in MCA
- Take care of yourself first
- Police shoot dead leader of ‘Berong Gang’
- Our diversity is a blessing, says PM
RSS
