Indonesia's tsunami toll exceeds 125,000

Recovery workers have pulled 367 more bodies from debris left by the December 26 earthquake and tsunami that hit Aceh province, bringing Indonesia’s death toll to 125,313, a government agency said today.

The missing tally fell from 94,994 to 94,682, the National Disaster Relief Co-ordinating Board said.

Most of those still unaccounted for are feared dead, but can’t be legally declared so for a year.

Indonesia’s Social Affairs Ministry said its death toll remained at 127,420 and the number of missing at 116,368. The government has not explained the differences in the two counts.

The NDRCB said all 367 bodies were found yesterday among the debris in Aceh’s capital, Banda Aceh, and its surrounding area of Aceh Besar district.

Its overall toll of 124,946 includes 125,185, dead in Aceh and 128 in other parts of Sumatra Island.

Aceh was hardest hit by the disaster because it was closest to the epicentre of the magnitude-9.0 quake that triggered massive waves and killed between 173,041 and 182,340 people in 11 nations.

The number of missing ranges from 107,495 to 129,897 – with most presumed dead.