The news just gets worse. The death toll is now apparently 44,000 with children making up a large percentage of that number.
The scope of this is staggering. Wikipedia notes the earthquake and the resulting tsunamis claimed lives in 12 countries spanning 7 different time-zones with tourists from 37 countries among those dead or missing.
Locally, the number of dead stands at 63 with 26 missing. (The Star only lists 60 victims as of writing.) The country is coping, though.
Stories are emerging — uplifting, bittersweet, heart-breaking.
More personal accounts: 1, 2, 3.
Scroll half-way down this page and click on the “Se Videoen” link for distressing amateur footage of a sea surge. (Link obtained from the Qt3 forums.)
There were concerns the political situation in Aceh and Sri Lanka might affect aid distribution but warring parties in both areas are setting aside their differences for now. Dangers still remain, though. Survivors and rescuers in Sri Lanka now have to worry about landmines dislodged by the killer waves.
Yet more quotes:
- “This was the worst day in our history. I wish I had died. There is no point in living.”
- “I saw many kids perish. I saw parents trying to hold them but it was impossible. It was hell.”
- “Our major concern is that the kids who survived the tsunami now survive the aftermath. Children are the most vulnerable to disease and lack of proper nutrition and water.”
- “They gave us the shirts they were wearing. They gave us their slippers. They are the most beautiful people in the world.”
- “Will this story get as much coverage as the Scott Peterson case?“
