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| Thursday, 06 January 2005 |
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Damage looks worse than war - Powell BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Wednesday (Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell voiced shock at the devastation of tsunami-hit Asia on Wednesday, saying it was more horrible than the war he had witnessed in his decades as a soldier. "I have been in war and I have been through a number of hurricanes, tornados and other relief operations, but I have never seen anything like this," America's former top soldier said after flying down the ravaged northwest coast of Sumatra. Powell served two combat tours in Vietnam, where he was decorated for pulling troops to safety after his helicopter crashed and burned during a 35-year military career that ended with his service as the country's military chief. "I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through families and all of the people who heard this noise coming and then had their lives snuffed out by this wave," he said. After his helicopter tour Powell, 67, left for Indonesia's capital Jakarta where U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other world leaders were arriving for a global relief summit on Thursday. As the leaders gathered, people in Europe from Riga to Rome observed three minutes of silence to remember the more than 145,000 tsunami dead, who include several thousand tourists, many of them Europeans. Public buildings in Europe flew flags at half mast, stock exchanges fell silent, crowded railway stations came to a standstill and television and radio stations broadcast solemn music in memory of the victims. Annan is expected to announce a major U.N. tsunami appeal at the Jakarta conference, which will also discuss the possibility of an immediate freeze of debt payments by affected countries. Germany dramatically raised its aid to countries hit by the disaster to 500 million euros ($680.2 million), the largest donation by any country. The area Powell visited, Aceh province, lost nearly 100,000 people, about two thirds of all those killed by the Indian Ocean tsunami 10 days ago triggered by a giant undersea quake just off its coast. Indonesia said half a million people - 80,000 above earlier estimates - were homeless in Aceh, where the hungry scavenged for food and water and an endless flow of wounded flooded hospitals. U.N. officials said they were worried that orphaned or lost children might be falling prey to criminal gangs bent on selling them into slavery. **** Asia tsunami death toll 145,968 LONDON, Wednesday (Reuters) - The death toll from the Asian tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Indonesia on Dec. 26, stood at 145,968 people, government and health officials said. U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said the latest death toll was "around 150,000", but gave no detailed breakdown. Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India were the hardest hit. Indonesia's health minister said the toll in his country was likely to be more than 100,000. |
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