December 30, 2004
BBC

New figures reveal at least 112,000 people died in Sunday's ocean disaster.

Officials in Indonesia say the number killed there is now nearly 80,000 and the death toll from the worst-hit area is set to rise still higher.

Aid workers are meanwhile struggling to reach the millions who survived the devastating waves but who now have little water, food or shelter.

Relief teams and supplies are pouring into the region but have yet to reach the hardest-hit and most remote areas.

There are reports of desperate people fighting over aid. Aftershocks and fears of new tsunamis have sown panic among survivors in Indonesia and India.

The US, Australia, Japan and India have formed a coalition to provide relief.

Foreign governments have pledged more than $220m in aid - $35m of which is promised by the US.

But the UN's relief co-ordinator, Jan Egeland, has said it will take another "two or three days" for the relief effort to get into full swing - by which time it may be too late for tens of thousands of people.


CONFIRMED DEATH TOLL

Indonesia: 79,940
Sri Lanka: 22,800
India: 7,330
Thailand: 1,975
Somalia: 120
Burma: 90
Maldives: 67
Malaysia: 65
Tanzania: 10
Seychelles: 1
Bangladesh: 2
Kenya: 1

"We are doing very little at the moment," he said.

"I believe the frustration will be growing in the days and weeks ahead."

Anger is building among survivors in the Indonesian province of Aceh, near the epicentre of Sunday's earthquake.

"There is no food here whatsoever. We need rice. We need medicine. I haven't eaten in two days," a local woman told Reuters news agency.

NEW PANIC

The BBC's Andrew Harding in Banda Aceh says relief supplies are barely trickling into the city where drinking water is also scarce and corpses clog the streets.

There are reports of fighting among survivors over food aid in the city.

A lone airport serves the entire region and road links to many remote areas have been washed away by sea waters.

Efforts are also being hampered by a petrol shortage and damage to port facilities.

Indonesia's navy has sent ships to isolated communities on the west coast of Sumatra but the picture there remains unclear.

On Thursday, aftershocks off Indonesia triggered fresh panic among survivors in Aceh.

Rumours of impending waves quickly spread to the two other countries which bore the brunt of Sunday's tsunamis - India and Sri Lanka.

Indian officials issued a warning, prompting many people to flee coastal areas both in southern India and Sri Lanka.

DISEASE FEARS

Across the region thousands remain unaccounted for since the 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake off Sumatra that forced a wall of water smashing into coastlines as far away as east Africa.


KEY AID PLEDGES

EU $44m
US: $35m
Canada: $33m
Japan: $30m
UK: $28.9m
Australia: $27m
France: $20.4m
Denmark: $15.6m
Saudi Arabia: $10m
Norway: $6.6m
Taiwan: $5.1m
Finland: $3.4m
Kuwait: $2.1m
Netherlands: $2.6m
UAE: $2m
Ireland $1.3m
Singapore: $1.2m

Source: Reuters, United Nations

There are fears that epidemics will erupt because water supplies have been contaminated.

The UN has said it is set to issue what may be its largest-ever appeal for aid.

The US is sending two aircraft carriers and other ships to the region. It is also using its spy satellites to assess damage to roads, bridges, ports and airfields.

The head of the World Health Organization's crisis team, David Nabarro, says as many as five million people cannot get water, food or adequate sanitation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4135099.stm