The Hindu : Front Page : Asia tsunami death toll 1.26 lakhs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

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Front Page

Asia tsunami death toll 1.26 lakhs

SINGAPORE/BANDA ACEH, JAN. 1. The death toll from the Asian tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Indonesia, stood at 1,26,815, government and health officials said.

Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India were the hardest hit. Indonesia's Health Minister said the toll in his country was likely to be more than 100,000.

In Sri Lanka 28,729 were killed and in Thailand 4,798.

``The true figure will probably never be known because people are burying the corpses where they find them,'' said Anjali Kwatra, leader of Sri Lanka's Christain Aid emergency team.

A legion of ships and planes delivered aid to millions today as New Year celebrations around the world paused to mourn the victims of one of the worst disasters in living memory.

The U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, called for a major logistical operation to help a half-dozen countries shattered by the tsunami.

``We mourn, we cry, and our hearts weep witnessing thousands of those killed left rigid in the streets,'' Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said in a New Year's eve address.

Rescue teams say aid has started to reach stricken areas, six days after the monster waves obliterated beach towns and sucked tourists out to sea in a torrent of mud and debris.

They were racing against time with an estimated 5 million people in the disaster areas facing grave difficulty getting food and clean water. — Reuters

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