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Indonesia Drastically Reduces Possible Tsunami Death Toll
Jakarta (AFP) Apr 07, 2005 Indonesia on Thursday drastically reduced the possible death toll from the December 26 tsunami, removing more than 50,000 from its total number of people listed as missing. A statement released by the welfare ministry's disaster management centre said the number of people believed missing was now 37,063, compared to the last reported figure of 93,458. The number of bodies found and buried in the worst-affected region of Aceh remains largely unchanged at 126,915, meaning the total of missing and confirmed dead has dropped from roughly 220,000 to 164,000. There has been widespread confusion in Indonesia in the compilation of tsunami death statistics, with different government departments initially releasing conflicting assessments. The massive levels of destruction wrought by the tsunami and the sheer numbers of corpses meant that in the early post-disaster stages, many of the victims were buried in mass graves without prior identification. A welfare ministry spokeswoman told AFP that the latest downward revision in statistics was probably because many people left homeless by the giant waves have since been identified and eliminated from the missing list. She said an ongoing programme to identify more than half a million internally displaced people was now 80 percent complete, meaning that further toll reductions were possible. Indonesia was the country worst-affected by the tsunami, which struck shores around the Indian Ocean killing a further 53,000 people in countries including India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The magnitude 9.3 earthquake which triggered the waves was followed by another huge tremor last week, measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, that emanated from the same geological faultline and killed at least 500 people. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Tectonic Science and News
Ash Continuing To Spew From Vanuatu Volcano
Sydney (AFP) Dec 12, 2005Thousands of tonnes of ash are continuing to spew from a volcano in Vanuatu, but officials said Monday the activity on the South Pacific nation was not likely to result in a major deadly eruption. |
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