Supplies of aid reach tsunami-hit nation

HELICOPTERS with emergency supplies finally landed yesterday on the remote Indonesian islands slammed by a tsunami that killed at least 272 people, while elsewhere in the archipelago the toll from a volcanic eruption rose to 30, including the mountain’s spiritual caretaker.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cut short a state visit to Vietnam to rush home to deal with the dual disasters that struck Indonesia within 24 hours, straining the country’s ability to respond.

The first aerial surveys of the region hit by the 10-foot (three-metre) tsunami revealed huge swaths of land underwater and the crumbled rubble of homes torn apart by the wave.