Thousands flee homes as Indonesian province swamped by tidal waves

TIDAL waves swamped towns in northwestern Indonesia close to the epicentre of yesterday’s massive undersea earthquake, killing at least 4,185 people and leaving corpses wedged in trees as waters receded, the health ministry and witnesses said.

Most of the dead were in the province of Aceh, which lies on the northern tip of Sumatra Island. At least 49 were killed on the island of Nias, to the west of Sumatra, close to the epicentre of the 8.9 magnitude quake.

At least 30,000 people were reported to have fled their homes in the region. Hundreds were still missing, officials said.