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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Tsunami wipes out remote Indian islands, death toll hits 50,000 |
| 2004-12-28 |
| Rescuers struggled to reach India's remote islands on Tuesday, two days after devastating tsunami struck southern Asia, saying that they found barely third of the residents on one Island still alive. On another island, piles of rubble and debris was what left of the housing blocks of an air force base. Authorities said they have lost contact with most of the islands, including, Grand Nicobar, one of the biggest Indian islands and the closest to the epicenter of Sunday's earthquake which caused a tsunami that killed more than 50,000 in 11 Asian countries. According to India's police at least 5,000 people are confirmed or presumed dead in 550 islands bordering Myanmar and Indonesia. The death toll across India is estimated at 10,000. With thousands still missing and rescuers struggling to reach or even contact some areas, Interior (Home) Minister Shivraj Patil predicts that the death toll will rise during the coming days. On the Andaman and Nicobar island of Chowra, rescuers said they found only 500 survivors from the Island's 1,500 residents, the territory's deputy police chief, C. Vasudeva Rao said. "We thought the entire island was washed away. But we found 500 survivors," he said. Authorities failed to contact two neighboring isles, home to a combined population of 7,000. "We are fearing the worse in these islands. We have heard nothing from them," Rao said. "We have no information." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 And "Why Euros & Aussies?" someone may ask? Because they organize into vacation clubs or join commercial vacation clubs and, when the venues are selected, they consume huge blocks of hotel space at a resort with one phone call or email. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-28 11:21:40 PM |
| #8 Doubt very much death toll being inflated.If anything,it is understated.This is an event of biblical proportions,in my mind. |
| Posted by: crazyhorse 2004-12-28 11:19:36 PM |
| #7 fishing locals and westerners on the beaches make logical first wave victims |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-28 11:15:55 PM |
| #6 Geez. That sucks... In synch with that item I've been hearing on Fox that the majority of the actual tsunami victims are Westerners - the preponderance being Europeans and Aussies - which certainly fits with the problems I've had trying to get Christmas reservations in Phuket. The second phase victims will be locals, however. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-28 11:13:07 PM |
| #5 Breaking news: 5,000 Australians Unaccounted For In South Asia. :( http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11804214%255E28477,00.html |
| Posted by: God Save The World 2004-12-28 11:06:03 PM |
| #4 That these nations' governments had no earthquake or tsunami warning system is criminal. If you live near alpine peaks, you owe it to yourself and your neighbors to understand and prepare for avalanches. If most of your impoverished population lives along the coast, then a minimal requirement of any decent, responsible government is a management system and appropriate warning systems related to flood tides and other ocean-related disasters. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-12-28 5:39:24 PM |
| #3 I think the toll will go over a million but we will never truly know. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-12-28 5:28:29 PM |
| #2 I doubt that very much. As the Marines keep pointing out, most of the world's population lives within a couple miles of the ocean. I imagine the current death toll is much higher than the known death toll, and once you work in the probable disease and destroyed infrastructure, things are going to get worse. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-12-28 5:25:07 PM |
| #1 Call me callous, but I can't help wondering how much of this death toll is being inflated so that local and central government officials can increase the amount of foreign aid they can skim off. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-12-28 5:15:26 PM |