Indonesia tsunami: Death toll soars to 282 (& "hundreds still missing")

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

The death toll from a tsunami that hit several remote islands in Indonesia has risen to at least 282, officials say.

Rescue teams on the Mentawai islands say hundreds are still missing, two days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami in western Sumatra.

Officials say there were faults with an early warning system designed to alert locals to the 3m-high (10ft) wave.

Indonesia's president has cut short a trip to Vietnam to visit the islands and oversee the relief operation. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew back from a meeting with regional leaders to help deal with the tsunami aftermath.

On Thursday he is expected to tour the region to monitor relief efforts. He will also be briefed on the rescue effort on Java, where an erupting volcano has caused chaos.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11632982

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More details, video report & link to photos at the BBC site. (WARNING, the photo gallery at the BBC's link under "Related stories" has pictures of bodies)

Earlier article: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4588827

[derby378]

1. You know, after 300,000 people perished from the LAST tsunami...

...you'd think the authorities would work a little harder to make sure the alert system worked. We lost only 1/100th that many people on September 11, and look how anal retentive our security system became as a result.

[uppityperson]

2. k&r, read shortly after the quake that there would be no tsunami.

GET the system FIXED! And I say this as a person who lives in a place that a tsunami would hurt, with a system that doesn't work well.

[Turborama]

3. BBC:Aerial images have revealed the extent of destruction, as officials raised the death toll to 311

Flattened villages are plainly visible on the images, taken from government helicopters circling the islands.

Rescuers, who have finally reached the area, say 13 villages were washed away by the 3m (10ft) wave, and 11 more settlements have not yet been reached.

=snip=

The first cargo plane loaded with tents, medicine, food and clothes landed on the islands on Wednesday, but rescue teams believe they have yet to reach the worst-affected areas.

Local disaster official Ade Edward said 411 people were still missing.

Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11640961


This used to be a village

[Turborama]

4. Update: Indonesia tsunami rescue under way

Indonesian rescue workers are struggling to reach hundreds of people believed to be missing after a tsunami smashed into a remote island chain in the west of the country, killing at least 300 people.

Disaster management officials said nearly400 people remained missing on Thursday, three days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near the Mentawai Islands, in west Sumatra, causing three-metre high waves. The waves washed away at least 10 villages and flattened houses, as it surged as far as 600 metres inland on South Pagai island, officials said.

Medical personnel were on their way to the worst-hit areas in helicopters but rescue efforts had been hampered by disruption to communications on the islands, which are about half a day's boat ride away from the port of Padang on Sumatra. Rough seas and bad weather also hampered relief operations.

"We need to find the missing people as soon as possible," Harmensyah, the West Sumatra disaster management head, said. "Some of them might have run away to the mountains, but many would have been swept away."

Full article: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/10/2010102742358344424.html

[Turborama]

5. Number of dead tops 340 as questions are raised about the failure of an early tsunami warning system

The death toll from Indonesia's tsunami has soared to at least 369 with 338 others missing, as questions mount over whether an elaborate tsunami warning system off the country's western coast had failed.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's president, headed on Thursday to the disaster zone, where fears were growing for hundreds still missing following Monday's tsunami.

=snip=

Disaster response officials said bodies were still being found on beaches and coastal areas in the Mentawais, which took the full force of the tsunami as it washed away entire villages.

Ade Edward, a West Sumatra provincial disaster official told AFP news agency that the death toll would climb possibly by as much as 200. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said on its website that 4,000 people had been displaced.

More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/10/2010102843636591256.html

[Turborama]

6. Indonesia tsunami deaths top 400

Questions raised over efficacy of early warning system following Monday's tsunami that hit islands off Sumatra.
Last Modified: Oct 29 2010 09:19 GMT

At least 408 people have been confirmed dead after a tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake hit Indonesia's western Mentawai Islands earlier this week, but officials say the death toll could be much higher.

Harmensyah, the head of the West Sumatra provincial disaster management centre, said on Friday that rescue teams "believe many, many of the bodies were swept to sea".

Bodies have also been found buried on beaches and even stuck in trees across the islands.

More than 400 people are believed to be still missing after three-metre high waves battered the small group of islands, about 280km to the northwest of Sumatra, on Monday.

More (WARNING contains graphic descriptions): http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/10/201010292401339180.html

[Turborama]

7. New Aerial Video Shows Damage To Tsunami-hit Indonesian Islands - Whole Villages Wiped Off The Map!

Link the video and more details posted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9405899