The Hindu : International : Somali death toll put at 110

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 29, 2004

International

International

Somali death toll put at 110

ARUSHA (TANZANIA), DEC. 28. Ten Tanzanians were killed by tidal waves that hit Africa's east coast after the massive earthquake in southern Asia, a senior police official said on Tuesday. A Somali official said the toll in his country was up to 110 following the tidal waves that hit East Africa's shores on Sunday, triggered by the undersea quake centred off Sumatra.

On Tuesday, Ali Abdi Awaare, Environment Minister of the semiautonomous northeastern region of Puntland, said the toll in Somalia was 110, up from more than 50 a day earlier. A presidential spokesman had said on Monday that hundreds were killed and entire villages swept away. The figures given by Mr. Awaare and the spokesman could not be independently confirmed.

Mr. Awaare said a lot more people were still missing and most displaced by the flooding were on hilltops, without food or shelter. On Tuesday, a team from the U.N. children's agency left Bossaso, about 1,120 km northeast of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, said Siddharth Chatterjee, a senior programme officer with UNICEF in Nairobi.

``Right now information is very sketchy ... We are ready to provide assistance to 2,500-3,000 people within 24 hours'' when the team reports back later on Tuesday, he said. In Tanzania, most of the 10 killed were swimming near Dar es Salaam's beach, and their bodies were recovered on Monday, said a police official.

— AP

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