220,000 indonesians feared dead after tsunami

Indonesia’s Health Ministry said today that more than 220,000 are dead or missing from the St Stephen's Day tsunami - much higher than its previous estimate of about 182,000 dead and missing.

In releasing the figures, the Health Ministry also said it would now base its death toll only on bodies buried, under a new tallying system in which none of the missing will be included among the dead for a full year – even though most of them are presumed dead.