Indonesia tsunami death toll soars

Matt Brown and wires

Last Updated: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 20:09:00 +1100

Indonesia's President has visited the area worst affected by the tsunami off the West Coast of Sumatra as fears remain for hundreds of people still missing.

The latest death toll stands at 343.

The death toll jumped dramatically in the past 24 hours as emergency workers made it to remote regions where the wave wiped out whole villages. Between 350 and 400 people are still missing and 4,000 people have fled their devastated homes.

Hundreds of workers from the military, police and the disaster management agency are now on the scene. Indonesia's President, Susilo Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono travelled to the region to check on the relief effort and offer his support to villagers who've lost not just their families and homes, but crops and fruit trees as well.

Countries including Australia and the US have pledged aid.

Fears for others

About 50,000 people are in emergency shelters but there are safety fears for thousands more who are refusing to leave their villages on the slopes of the still active volcano.

Two tiny villages on the island account for nearly all of the 500 people who are missing.

Officials hold grave fears for the villages because they were in the path of the tsunami and nothing has been heard from their inhabitants for two days.

Relief teams made it to other parts of the Mentawai Island chain today, delivering tarpaulins and medical supplies. Phones in the area are damaged and radio contact is difficult.

Disaster Management Agency aid coordinator Wisnu Wijaya says rescue teams from the capital Jakarta will join forces with local teams to evacuate bodies and deliver food aid, medicines, tents and blankets.

No warning

Survivors said they had no warning that the three-metre wave was bearing down on the Mentawais, a popular destination for foreign surfers but otherwise a poor and neglected outpost in the vast Indonesian archipelago.

Officials say two devices that measure waves had been vandalised, but were too expensive to replace straight away.

Ferdinand Salamanang lives on North Pagai Island and says he did not receive any warning.

"There wasn't any siren to warn people in Sikakap," he said.

"Yes there was an earthquake and tsunami detection system in our port, but they are broken. We did not hear any warning this time."

The first images from the scene of the disaster, broadcast on Indonesian television, showed shell-shocked villagers picking through the sodden ruins of their homes.

Aid offer

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has left a regional meeting in Hanoi to oversee relief efforts for the Merapi eruption and Sumatra tsunami.

Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has offered her condolences to the families of Indonesians who have died in the tsunami as well as the volcanic eruption on Java.

Ms Gillard says Australia is ready to help out if required.

"On behalf of all members I deeply regret the loss of life and the damage caused and of course our thoughts go out to the families and loved ones of the people affected," she said.

"The Australian Government has offered assistance to the Government of Indonesia should this be needed."

In December 2004, a tsunami caused by an earthquake of more than 9-magnitude off Sumatra killed more than 226,000 people. It was the deadliest tsunami on record.

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