[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 17:18:07 -0800
I cut and past several paragraphs from Reuters:
Race to Bury Asia's Dead as Toll Soars Near 60,000
Tue Dec 28, 2004 06:20 PM ET
By David Fox
GALLE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Stricken Indian Ocean nations worked swiftly
on Wednesday to bury thousands of bodies as experts warned disease could
kill as many people as the 60,000 already dead from the violent crush of
Sunday's tsunami.
While governments and rescuers tried to cope with the aftermath of possibly
the deadliest tsunami in more than 200 years, the United Nations mobilized
what it called the biggest relief operation in its history.
The ocean surge was triggered by a magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake off
the Indonesian island of Sumatra, spreading in an arc of death across the
Indian Ocean striking nations from Indon! esia to Sri Lanka, and beyond
across to Africa.
U.S. scientists said on Tuesday the quake that set off the killer wall of
water permanently moved tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean as much as
30 meters (98 feet), slightly shifting islands near Sumatra.
Survivors told harrowing tales of the moment the tsunami, up to 10 meters
(30 feet) high, struck towns and resorts, sucking holidaymakers off beaches
into the ocean, smashing people and debris through buildings, leaving more
than 59,000 dead and thousands more missing and injured.
....
Of the overall death toll so far, Indonesia has suffered the biggest number
of victims, with 27,174 dead.
Nearly all the deaths in Indonesia were in the northwestern province of
Aceh at the tip of Sumatra. Rescue crews were still trying to reach cut off
areas. Separatist rebels announced a truce while people search for loved ones.
The stench of decomposing corpses spread ov! er the provincial capital Banda
Aceh, where fresh water, food and fuel were in short supply. Bodies lay
scattered in the streets.
One of the worst hit cities was Meulaboh, about 150 km (90 miles) from the
quake's epicenter. The mayor Tengku Zulkarnaen said three-quarters of his
city had been washed away.
....
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