Tsunami's Toll Increases
Hundreds Are Dead,
Many More Missing
As Java Cleans Up
PANGANDARAN, Indonesia -- The toll mounted from the second tsunami to hit Indonesia in 18 months, with at least 463 people killed, more than 600 injured and nearly 280 missing, officials said.
Bodies covered in white sheets piled up at makeshift morgues here on the southern coast of the island of Java. Some victims were killed along the beaches of a local tourist resort; others were residents of coastal fishing or farming villages.
The area hit by Monday's disaster had been spared by the devastating December 2004 tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and many local residents said they didn't even feel the 7.2-magnitude undersea quake that unleashed a two-meter-high wall of water that came ashore.
No local alerts of an impending tsunami were reported despite international efforts to establish early-warning systems after the 2004 catastrophe. Although the country started to install such a system after that disaster, it is still in the early stages, covering only Sumatra, which was badly hit in 2004. The government had been planning to extend the warning system to Java by next year.
Still, some residents recognized the danger when they saw the sea recede and fled to higher ground, screaming "Tsunami! Tsunami!" A black wave shot to shore 30 minutes later, witnesses said, sending boats, cars and motorbikes crashing into small seaside hotels and fishing villages. The water moved 300 meters inland in some places.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla yesterday said the death toll had reached 341 and an additional 229 were missing.
Officials believe the death toll will grow. "We are still finding many bodies, many are stuck in the ruins of the houses," said local police chief Syamsuddin Janieb, who said at least 172 people were killed in the Pangandaran area alone.
A Pakistani national and a Swedish national were among the dead, he said. A French woman hospitalized with injuries said her boyfriend was missing, he added. At least three Dutch citizens were killed in the tsunami, a consulate staffer in Jakarta said.
More than 40,000 people fled their homes, either because they were destroyed or in fear of another tsunami, so accounting for the missing could take time, other officials said Tuesday.
Survivors, meanwhile, recounted their tales of horror.
"We saw a big wall of black water. I ran with my son in my arms and when I looked back, the waves were at our house, they destroyed our house," said Ita Anita, who was on the beach with her 11-month-old child and other relatives. "The water knocked me down, my son slipped out of my hands and was taken by the water."
Roads were blocked and power cut in much of the area.
In addition to the deaths in Pangandaran, central Java police chief Dody Sumantiawan said at least 77 people were killed and more than 70 others missing in nearby Cilacap district.
Lina, a district official who goes by only one name, said 44 bodies were found in Tasikmalaya and local authorities said at least 13 people were killed in other areas along the coast.
Indonesia was the hardest hit in the 2004 tsunami, which killed at least 216,000 people in a dozen nations along the Indian Ocean rim -- more than a half of them on Sumatra island's Aceh province.
印尼海啸遇难者人数增加
印度尼西亚官员表示，最近发生的海啸袭击已造成该国至少有341人死亡、600多人受伤，还有近230人失踪。
在爪哇岛南部的重灾区庞加达安地区，成堆的尸体摆放在停尸房里面。一些受害者是在当地一个旅游胜地遇难的；还有一些遇难者是当地的村民。
与这次海啸相比，2004年12月的那次海啸造成的破坏更大。当时，印度洋沿岸国家共有超过20万人遇难。这次，许多当地居民称他们甚至没有感觉到7.2级的海底地震。据说，这次地震掀起了2米高的巨浪，并冲到岸上。
印尼副总统卡拉(Jusuf Kalla)周二表示，死亡人数已经增至341人，另外还有229人失踪。
印尼官员认为死亡数字还会上升。庞加达安当地警察局局长Syamsuddin Janieb表示，不断有大量尸体出现，许多尸体被困在废墟里面。他表示，仅在庞加达安一地，遇难者就至少有172人。
他说，至少有一名巴基斯坦公民和一名瑞典公民死亡。一名法国籍女子受伤住院，其男友下落不明。另外，荷兰驻雅加达领事馆的员工透露，该国至少有三名公民在海啸中死亡。
