Posted on 12/30/2004 10:01:15 AM PST by Keith Burwell
Indonesia Needs Help, Death Toll Expected To Exceed 400,000 Thu Dec 30 2004 12:52:01 ET
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- The death toll in Acheh, the region worst hit by last Sunday's tsunami, may exceed 400,000 as many affected areas could still not be reached for search and rescue operations, Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia Drs H. Rusdihardjo said Thursday.
He said the estimate was based on air surveillance by Indonesian authorities who found no signs of life in places like Meulaboh, Pulau Simeulue and Tapak Tuan while several islands off the west coast of Sumatera had "disappeared".
He said the latest death toll of more than 40,000 in Acheh and northern Sumatera did not take into account the figures from the other areas, especially in the west of the region.
"Aerial surveillance found the town of Meulaboh completely destroyed with only one buiding standing. The building, which belonged to the military, happens to be on a hill," he told reporters after receiving RM1 million in aid for Indonesia's Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund here Thursday.
Rusdihardjo said there were about 150,000 residents in Meulaboh, which was located 150km from the epicentre of the earthquake while Pulau Simeuleu had a population of 76,000.
The contributions were from several corporate giants.
Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), represented by Chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, gave RM200,000; Guthrie, represented by Chief Executive Officer Datuk Abdul Wahab Maskan, gave RM200,000; Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, represented by Group Director for Corporate, Legal and Public Affairs Norlin Abdul Samad, gave RM200,000; Maybank, represented by Head of Public Affairs Wan Norhiyati Ibrahim, gave RM200,000 and Sime Darby Group's Motor Division, represented by Director Yip Jon Khiam, also gave RM200,000.
Ahmad Sarji also handed over a PNB contribution to Utusan's Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund, which was received by Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Executive Chairman Tan Sri Hashim Makarudin to help Malaysian tsunami victims.
Ambassador Rusdihardjo said a combination of earthquake and tsunami had left 80 to 100 per cent of infrastructure in Acheh province, such as hospitals, health centres, transport and communication networks and homes, destroyed.
"Looking at the scale of destruction, it's difficult to say when the search and rescue operations can be mounted in all affected areas," he said.
He said rescue efforts were hampered by transportation difficulties and lack of fuel.
Rusdihardjo said that at this time international help, especially in the form of medicines, clean water, food and clothing, were desperately needed by Indonesia to aid survivors in Acheh.
"Now we are worried about the outbreak of diseases such as cholera, the work of disposing corpses and the absence of clean water following the contamination of water sources," he said.
Why's that?
Remember how 30,000 dead in the WTC became 3,000.
As a proxy, it has worked for more things than you can imagine. My father and I have seen countless examples.
Lord, bring these people comfort. What a tragic experience.
Matt 18:20
I'm with you Betty Boop! It's a good question especially at a time we have poured so much into Iraq and have enormous
debt at home.
Would Salvation Army be the best charity to give to re: this disaster? do they have people there?
You can't confirm a guess...they are saying it MAY go that high.
I don't think so.
I think it may go to 200,000 though.
Did you see the seven Tsunami videos on itsvideos.com? There are only seven and out of those you will see footage in two or three of people just standing there, not realizing their impending doom soon enough to even start running. Plus, using your "method," you would have to start with the initial reports, which were far lower than what is being reported now. So you use the initial reports for WTC but wait while the numbers climb in this case and then use the higher numbers. You can get any answer you want that way. I don't buy it.
I saw these above water fishing villages all around the Maldives and the Indonesian islands...also off of Borneo and Malaysia.
Wjile travelling through these "cities" even the large ones like Ujang Pangdang the building are nothing but rebar and "bricks" made in the adobe fashion...mud and straw...the buildings might look stable, they are not. The only reliable buildings built will be the "chain hotels and restaurants" backed by outside money...and then the rich folks will "know" about "real building codes" and will fashion stable homes for themselves...but on the average...little homes even inland are build by "monkey see monkey" method of home building.
I know about India. I think the most damage was in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, Thailand. It's hard to tell, but the numbers seem to jump so much in short spaces of time. It's only been a few days and the situation may still be very confused because we're talking about several countries, not just one. Pictures and constant analysis and replays on television just doesn't do justice. So, it's hard to know.
See 271
Thank you so much for posting that map of the whole area.
I can't even imagine the horror they experienced.
praying for a miracle here.....your peace and that of the other families impacted.
I have a friend in Myanmar and I am sending them our donation. They will forward it on to organizations in the area who are legitimately working towards the relief area.
Apparently they built breakwaters around one or more of the larger islands after some floods in the 80's and that helped, but still, when you consider Somalia is twice as far away, is continental and not just low-lying islands, and still had almost twice the death toll, the Maldives did relatively OK.
I am praying for you and your family that God would give you peace and strength for the days ahead. I am also praying for your friends who were in Phuket, that they would be okay.
The difference in charity and concern as I see it is that Muslims will rush to aid other Muslims, as they see their duty to take care of the Ummah, but they won't rush to aid infidels. Unfortunately many of them would cheer if many Americans died. OTOH, most other religions will rush to aid anyone that is in need.
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