More discoveries…
- The death toll from Sunday’s tsunamis has jumped to more than 135,000 after Indonesia reported nearly 80,000 people were killed in that country alone. CNN.com
- Indonesian-based British conservationist Mike Griffiths flew over the area and said it was “like a nuclear blast has leveled the area.” Between Meulaboh and Chalang, about 60 miles north, no villages are left, he said. Calong, a town of 13,000, has “vaporized,” he said. “You couldn’t even recognize there’d been a town there unless you’d flown over it before.” CNN.com
- As foreign military cargo planes touched down in Indonesia today with emergency aid, fears rose that the bodies of perhaps tens of thousands of victims will never be found. Entire villages have been swept to sea. Indonesia's official death toll stood at about 80,000, but Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supadi said it could reach 100,000. IOL
- In Indonesia, most government agencies cancelled fireworks displays and urged people to pray instead. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in his annual year-end address to the nation, said now was not the time to celebrate. “Let’s welcome the New Year without a party because now we are filled with concern and sadness,” Yudhoyono said. “We are still mourning. Let’s pray together and hopefully God will not give us another disaster.” IOL
- The World Health organization estimated between one and three million of those affected by the tsunami in Aceh and North Sumatra were homeless. That number includes around 79,000 people who have sought refuge in the hills of Simeulue island, the closest inhabited area to the epicenter of the 9.0-magnitude quake that generated the huge waves. The Jakarta Post
