Mourners in Sri Lanka buried their dead with bare hands today while rescue services struggled to reach areas of Indonesia still cut off from the rest of the world, two days after a tsunami devastated Indian Ocean coastlines and killed more than 50 000 people.

A team of doctors and paramedics flew out of Johannesburg International Airport on Tuesday morning to Phuket in Thailand to rescue South Africans stranded there following this weekend’s devastating tsunami wave. The flight is expected to touch down on Tuesday, 8.30pm South African time and return to South Africa on Wednesday.

One of the biggest, costliest and most complex international relief efforts ever mounted got under way on Monday, with governments and aid organisations sending money and aid teams to bring relief to survivors of the Indian Ocean earthquake. With at least nine countries affected from Africa to Indonesia, the daunting magnitude of the task is becoming clear.

Ukraine’s bitter presidential election took a new twist on Monday night when the vanquished government candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, refused to accept defeat and vowed to challenge the victory of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. With most votes counted, preliminary results give Yushchenko an unassailable lead.

Two more South Africans have died in disaster-stricken Phuket, Thailand, bringing the total number to four, says the Department of Foreign Affairs. Meanwhile, a rescue team will fly to Phuket on Tuesday morning to bring back 198 a South Africans.

Ably assisted by the tail-enders, Jacques Kallis spearheaded an outstanding performance by South Africa to give them a first innings lead of 193 runs on the second day of the second Test at Kingsmead on Monday. At close of play, England were 30 without loss in their second innings, and were still 163 runs behind.