Thousands of Indonesians may have disappeared forever

Fears rose in Indonesia today that the bodies of perhaps tens of thousands of victims will never be found. Entire villages have been swept to sea.

Indonesia’s official death toll stood at about 80,000, but Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supadi said it could reach 100,000.

In the fishing village of Meulaboh, whole swathes of land were stripped bare, with only some home foundations and debris remaining. About a quarter of the town’s 40,000 people were feared dead, but only a fraction of that number had been found.

“It is very difficult to predict the final toll,” said Dody Budiatman, coordinator of relief efforts for the government in Jakarta. “We could search in small boats, but considering the numbers it would be very difficult.”

Officials have even admitted they aren’t sure how many corpses they’ve buried. One way to estimate the total has been to take the number of bodies in one mass grave and multiply it by the number of graves. In other cases, they estimate the population of a village, count the survivors and assume the rest have been killed.

President Susilo Yudhoyono, addressing the nation, called for the country’s 210 million people to cancel New Year’s celebrations and remember the victims with prayers.

“I call to all people to leave 2004 with a clear and honest reflection,” Yudhoyono said. “Let’s welcome the New Year without a party because now we are filled with concern and sadness. We are still mourning. Let’s pray together and hopefully God will not give us another disaster.”

Meanwhile, the flow of aid – including medicines and body bags for the dead - got a big boost as the first of many expected US C-130 cargo planes arrived at the regional airport in Aceh.

Relief teams from Taiwan, Australia, South Korea and other nations were also already on the ground. They were joined later by troops from the United States, Malaysia and Singapore.

But getting the aid to those who need it has proved to be a logistical nightmare in an area that has little functioning government and a decimated infrastructure.

While tons of aid sit unopened at the airport, droves of refugees have established a tent village along the main road leading into this provincial capital on the island of Sumatra.

“It’s on the path of the aid trucks,” said one refugee, Umi Sana.

Having made it through the worst natural disaster to hit this region in decades, Sana and perhaps a million other people are now trying to just make it through each day.

Like hundreds of others living out of tents – mainly just plastic tarps - along a 200 yard stretch of road, Sana washes with water from a nearby well. Her only possessions are a bundle of clothes.

And like many, her main concern is the whereabouts of her family. She came here with her husband to work, and her six children remained behind in Meulaboh. With the village virtually washed away, she has had no way to confirm whether her children are alive or dead.

“Can you get me on a military plane?” she asked frantically.

Rotting bodies and piles of debris continue to clutter the streets, with the local government in disarray. Officials are burying corpses by the truckload, but say they lack the manpower to dig them all out and transport them to mass graves.

“It will take at least two weeks for us to have the people and equipment we need here,” said Aigor Lacomba, of a consortium of European aid groups. “It means nothing to bring a whole lot of staff if you have no where for them to live.”

With the fear of disease increasing, medical workers scrambled to establish a foothold.

Ade Bachtiar, a volunteer nurse from Jakarta, travelled to Aceh to help at an impromptu clinic set up in an abandoned souvenir shop.

“Yesterday, we could only stay open for about two hours due to the lack of electricity,” he said. Nevertheless, he added, they treated 60 to 80 people, mainly closing and cleaning wounds.

“Medicine is running out, especially antiseptics,” he said.