The number of people killed in the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis coastlines on December 26 shot up past 165Â 000 on Friday as Indonesia confirmed nearly 20Â 000 more deaths.
The death toll in Indonesia, which bore the brunt of the disaster, climbed to 113Â 306, the Ministry of Social Affairs’ relief coordination centre said. This was up from the previous day’s tally of 94Â 200.
The United Nations has warned that tens of thousands more dead may be as yet unaccounted for in Indonesia.
In Sri Lanka, 30Â 615 are confirmed killed, the government said. Another 4Â 356 people are still missing.
In neighbouring India, the official toll stands at 9Â 995 people confirmed dead, with the number of missing at 5Â 689, most of them presumed dead.
Interior Ministry figures for Thailand put the death toll at 5Â 288 — 2Â 510 of them foreign holidaymakers.
The number of people listed as missing has fallen sharply to 3Â 716, from nearly 4Â 500, as some people were found to have made reports of missing people at several centres, an official said.
Myanmar’s Prime Minister Soe Win said on Thursday 59 people were killed in the tsunamis and more than 3Â 200 left homeless. This was down from the UN’s estimated 90.
At least 82 people were killed and another 26 are missing in the Maldives, a government spokesperson said.
Sixty-eight people were dead in Malaysia, most of them in Penang, according to police, while in Bangladesh a father and child were killed after a tourist boat capsized in large waves, officials said.
Fatalities also occurred on the east coast of Africa, where 298 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya.
More South Africans confirmed safe
The number of South Africans unaccounted for following the December 26 Asian tsunami has dropped from 499 on Thursday to 474, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in Pretoria on Friday.
Departmental spokesperson Albie Laubscher said the number has decreased as a result of the department having contacted families to confirm the whereabouts of those who had been unaccounted for.
The number of South African fatalities remains at 10.
The latest death was confirmed on Thursday when family members identified a victim in a morgue in Thailand.
The number of people still missing and feared dead remains at five.
Annan stunned
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Friday he was stunned by the level of devastation caused by tsunamis along the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island.
”I must admit I have never seen such utter destruction — mile after mile, and you wonder where are the people, what happened to them?” he told reporters shortly after flying over the worst-hit areas.
Annan said he visited the town of Meulaboh, a town on the west coast of Sumatra’s Aceh province that was almost completely obliterated by last week’s disaster.
”There we saw people begin to pick up the pieces and get on with their lives, and of course it shows the resilience of the human spirit. And I believe that, in time, given the support and efforts by the government and the international community, the people will be able to pick up and carry on.
”But they are going to need lots of help,” he added.
India stands proudly alone
Meanwhile, India’s go-it-alone relief policy, despite a bill for billions of dollars from the tsunami devastation, shows its new strength and determination to be recognised as an economic power, analysts say.
The Indian federal government on Friday increased by more than $400-million its estimate of damage on the mainland to $1,60-billion. While an official survey continues on the battered Andaman and Nicobar Islands, reports put the cost there at nearly $600-million.
Financial compensation due to be handed over to relations of the dead is estimated at more than one billion rupees ($23-million). The wreckage from the tsunami comes on top of losses suffered by farmers on account of delayed monsoon rains, but analysts say these will only be a blip for an economy that recorded 8,2% growth last year.
”This can be easily managed by the Indian government. We have come a long way since the time when India would always stand with a begging bowl in hand when a natural calamity would strike,” said Saumitra Chowdhary, chief economic adviser in credit-rating agency ICRA.
India has mounted its biggest peace-time relief operation to date, dispatching more than 4Â 000 troops to disaster-hit areas, air-dropping food to isolated spots and sending navy ships carrying hundreds of tonnes of aid.
New Delhi has also dispatched vessels to Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka besides announcing relief packages for Thailand. — Sapa, Sapa-AP, Sapa-AFP