South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami: Breakdown of the situation in the countries affected

Report
from Concern Worldwide
Published on 04 Jan 2005 View Original
Indonesia

Indonesia's health ministry today raised the country's confirmed death by 14,000 to just more than 94,000. Tens of thousands more are missing and presumed dead.

The government says it has enough food and medicine for survivors but that it cannot get the aid to many areas. The tiny airport in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital of Aceh, is finding it hard to cope with the number of planes now trying to bring in supplies. Other infrastructure has been utterly shattered.

Thousands of Indonesian troops have been drafted in to help clear the dead bodies. Bulldozers are being used to bury them in mass graves.

Indonesia said on Friday it would host an international tsunami summit on Jan. 6, aimed at garnering more emergency aid for the disaster that hit the Indian Ocean region and to discuss future reconstruction needs.

Sri Lanka

Officials added 1,026 more to the death toll and said 5,540 people still missing were likely to be declared dead, bringing the figure there to 35,000. Casualty figures were still being reported from affected areas along the country's north and south coasts. Nearly 17,000 were injured and almost one million people were displaced and living in temporary camps at schools and religious places.

India

Panic swept southern India and the Andaman Islands following a government minister's remark that more waves might hit the area. Thousands of people fled inland before he clarified that he was advising caution, not alarm.

The official death toll is more than 10,000, with most of the dead in Tamil Nadu - and it could keep rising as information comes in from remote areas, where communications are proving difficult.

The Indian Air Force, which lost more than 100 personnel when the waves washed over one of its bases, has been evacuating survivors from remote areas.

There are problems of distribution of aid along the southern coast - with easy-to-reach places inundated but more remote regions still lacking even safe drinking water.

Medical teams have begun a vaccination campaign to try to reduce the spread of disease.

Thailand

Nearly 4,000 people are still missing in Thailand, including more than 1,600 foreigners, many of them Scandinavians. Hundreds of recovered bodies are awaiting DNA analysis for identification. Others, washed out to sea, may never be found.

Maldives

High waves and floods inundated the islands, killing at least 67 people.

Large areas of the capital, Male, have been left under water. With most of the Maldives being only 1m (3ft) above sea level, the damage is extensive.

Some of the country's 200 islands cannot be contacted.

Malaysia

Although Malaysia lies close to the epicentre, much of its coastline was spared widespread devastation because it was shielded by Sumatra, Indonesia.

However, scores of people are reported to have been swept away from beaches near the northern Malaysian island of Penang. At least 65 people are confirmed dead.

The mainland states of Kedah and Perak were also affected.

Burma

It is thought there are anywhere between 30 and 90 dead.

A government official said most of the dead were in the Irrawaddy Delta, where 17 villages were hit and 200 people left homeless.

There are particular fears for the fate of fishing boats out at sea when the surge hit.

Bangladesh

Two people have been reported dead in Bangladesh.

Somalia

At least 120 Somalis are known to have died, with thousands more homeless and many fishermen still unaccounted for, according to a government minister. About 50,000 people have been displaced.

Almost the entire population of the island has been affected, a UN World Food Programme official said.

Kenya

One person drowned in Kenya, and the country's meteorological service initially warned tourists, fishermen and businesspeople to stay away from the coasts.

The warning was lifted on 29 December, but officials continue to caution against swimming in potentially, polluted waters or drinking contaminated water.

Tanzania

Ten people were killed in Tanzania.

Seychelles

One person was killed in the Seychelles and there has been extensive flooding.

European tourists, who fled a dark winter for the sunshine and sands of Asia, made up most of more than 2,200 foreign tourists killed by the tsunami. Nearly 7,000 were missing.