Tsunami death toll rises by 5,000

INDONESIA increased its tsunami death toll by 5,000 yesterday, raising the overall number of people who died in the December 26 disaster to more than 162,000.

The nation’s defence minister toned down his country’s reluctance to host foreign troops helping in relief efforts.

The additional deaths came from the village of Calang, on the northwestern coast of Sumatra. The island has counted more than 115,000 dead. More than 12,000 people were still missing, according to the Indonesian social affairs ministry.

A Japanese medical team arrived in Sumatra’s Aceh province yesterday to prepare for their military’s biggest overseas relief effort. Japan plans to send about 1,000 troops to Aceh this month for a three-month stay, said the commander of the military’s medical corps Colonel Takeshi Moriichi.

The US military already has 2,000 marines ferrying aid workers and transporting food to victims in Aceh, where most of the devastation occurred.

Overall about 15,000 US military personnel are involved in the relief effort in southern Asia.

Hundreds of troops from Australia, Singapore, Germany and other nations are also helping, along with UN agencies and non-government aid groups.

Several Indonesian officials, including the vice-president, have expressed unease about the large number of foreign troops, indicating their desire to see them gone by the end of March.