Tsunami loss rises to 370 in Indonesia as more bodies found

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The death toll from a tsunami off western Indonesia has risen to 370 as more bodies have been found in a search of the remote islands that were hardest-hit.


Ferry Faisal, of the West Sumatra provincial disaster management agency, raised the official toll on Thursday to 370 from 311 earlier in the day. He says 339 people are still missing.

Rescuers fright the numbers could climb higher, suspecting many of the missing may have been swept away to sea.

Along with the 33 people died by a volcano that erupted Tuesday more than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the east in central Java, the number of dead from the twin disasters has now reached 426.

After a lull that allowed mourners to clutch a mass burial for victims, Mount Merapi started rumbling again Thursday with three small eruptions and two others early Friday. There were no reports of new injuries or damage

The catastrophes struck within 24 hours in different parts of the seismically active country, strictly testing Indonesia's emergency response network.



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