23,000 and still counting

The death toll in a tsunami that slammed into the Asian coast from India to Indonesia topped 23,266 on Monday as rescuers scoured the sea fo...

The death toll in a tsunami that slammed into the Asian coast from India to Indonesia topped 23,266 on Monday as rescuers scoured the sea for missing tourists and fears of disease grew as soldiers raced to recover rotting bodies.

8220;We are used to dealing with disasters in one country. But I think something like this spread across many countries and islands is unprecedented. We have not had this before,8221; UN emergency relief official Yvette Stevens said in Geneva.

Sri Lankan military spokesman Daya Ratnayaka said 10,029 people had been killed in Sri Lanka alone, while a minister said 200 foreign tourists were feared dead.

Other areas badly hit by Sunday8217;s tsunami included northern Indonesia with about 5,000 drowned and Thailand8217;s southern tourist isles and beaches where up to 839 people died.

In Banda Aceh, capital of Indonesia8217;s Aceh province near the epicentre of the quake, troops were still unloading piles of bodies from military trucks late on Monday. Dozens of bodies were still scattered on streets, while masses of debris 8212; a mix of mud, ruined trucks and cars, mangled motorcycles, and wood from shattered houses 8212; had yet to be cleared.

Throughout the region, relatives hunted through piles of dead stacked up in hospital corridors and prayed for the safe return of thousands still missing as the toll rose to about 22,500.

8216;8216;The scale of the tragedy is massive. Sri Lanka has never been hit by tidal waves or earthquakes or anything at all in its known history, so this is a grave tragedy which we have not been prepared for,8217;8217; President Chandrika Kumaratunga told BBC.

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In Aceh, volunteers laid children8217;s bodies in rows under sarongs at makeshift morgues. Others were stacked in white fish crates. 8216;8216;It smells so bad8230;The human bodies are mixed in with dead animals,8217;8217; said marine colonel Buyung Lelana, head of an evacuation team in Aceh. 8216;8216;I am hoping there are enough coffins available,8217;8217; said Mustofa, Mayor of Aceh8217;s Bireuen regency.

Smaller tremors followed Sunday8217;s earthquake, the world8217;s biggest since 1964 and the fourth-largest since 1900. Families around the world anxiously sought news of loved ones. Calls from worried relatives swamped hotlines set up by foreign ministries and tour operators.

Thailand evacuated injured survivors from its southern beaches on Monday. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the toll would go much higher. 8216;8216;We have a long way to go in collecting bodies,8217;8217; he said.

Many foreign tourists were left destitute, all their possessions and passports lost to the waves. British travel agents said charter flights that had been due to carry more holidaymakers to devastated areas would instead fly out empty to evacuate survivors.

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Thousands in Sri Lanka left homeless sheltered in temples and schools. The southern port of Galle had been submerged. Weeping relatives scrambled over bodies piled in a hospital in Karapitiya. 8216;8216;We are struggling to cope,8217;8217; said Karapitiya Teaching Hospital administrator Dr H.G. Jayaratne.

In the Maldives, where thousands of foreign visitors were holidaying, damage appeared to be limited.

The tsunami was so powerful it smashed boats and flooded areas along the East African coast, 6,000 km away. At least 14 Somalis were killed and nine missing at sea after turbulent swells generated by the tsunami hit the coast. 8212; Reuters



nbsp;	8226; Four Indian tourists in Sri Lanka and two in Thailand are among those confirmed dead. The Sri Lankan Government said on Monday that around 200 foreign tourists had been feared killed. Indians Sangeeta Tusmar and Sumanam Sridhar were among those killed when the tsunami hit Phuket. 8226; The International Monetary Fund said it will provide all the help it can to South Asian nations devastated by the tsunami. 8220;It is my intention to provide whatever possible assistance the IMF can to help South Asia deal with the aftermath of this weekend8217;s earthquake and floods,8221; said Rodrigo Rato, the IMF8217;s managing director. 8226; Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej8217;s 21-year-old grandson, Bhumi Jensen, was among those killed in the tsunami, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Monday. Bhumi was holidaying with his mother at the time but she was safe. 8226; Two British tourists and 41 others were killed, while another 63 were missing after giant tidal waves hit Male, the tourist paradise of the Maldives, officials said. 8226; More than 200 prisoners escaped from a jail in Indonesia8217;s Aceh province on Sunday after the tsunami knocked down the prison walls. Ali Taruna Jaya, police chief in Pidie, said some of the 204 inmates who fled the jail had given themselves up. 8216;8216;It appears some escaped for their own safety after the tsunami crashed into the jail,8217;8217; he said. 8226; Eleven Italians were killed and another 100 were missing in southern Asia, the Italian Government said on Monday. 8216;8216;There are 11 Italians killed, but we have only confirmed the identity of three of them. They were tourists swept off the beach,8221; Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said. 8212; Agencies	nbsp;