As rescue workers are racing against time to deal with the aftermath of the Sunday Indian Ocean earthquake-tsunamis, relief work is also stepped up in the hard-hit nations on Wednesday.
The Indonesian government began focusing relief works on some areas in Aceh which could not be reached by rescue teams since tidal waves swept through the areas Sunday.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was in Medan to inspect the center of humanitarian assistance for Aceh on Wednesday, ordered the military to build access to isolated areas in the tsunami-hit Aceh Province so as to allow the sending of relief workers.
He referred to military aircraft C-130 Hercules belonging to the Air Force tasked with transporting relief workers and supplies to Aceh.
Meulaboh town in Aceh remains unreachable after the Sunday's strong quake and tidal waves destroyed airport, seaport and roads.Death toll in the town alone is estimated at 10,000.
Meulaboh military commander Col. Gerhan Lantara said that at least 3,500 people in the regency were confirmed dead in the disaster. Gerhan said food supply is adequate only for the next two days.
It has been estimated that around 25,000 people in two towns were killed in the disaster, but relief workers could not reach the areas as tidal waves have destroyed airport, seaports and roads and cut off electricity and communication lines.
The Southeast Asian nation has put the death toll from the disaster to 30,000 to 40,000.
In Sri Lanka, another tsunami-hit most country which announced a death toll of more than 21,000 people, is making every effort to supply food, drinking water and medicines to the disaster areas.
Trucks and cargo planes ferried food, drinking water and medical supplies Wednesday to welfare centers sheltering some of the 1 million Sri Lankans left homeless by the massive tsunamis.
"The biggest problem we are facing right now is the disposal of dead bodies and coordinating the relief efforts to reach the most affected areas," said Migel Bermeo, head of the United Nation's agencies in Colombo.
Bandages, antibiotics, tents and blankets donated by foreign countries were being dispatched to the northeastern and southern coasts, said the government's Disaster Management Unit.
Four aircraft, including an airborne surgical hospital from Finland, arrived in Colombo with relief, said Bandula Jayasekara,spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross.
Twelve trucks carrying rice, lentils and sugar left a UN World Food Program from Colombo on Tuesday to the southern and eastern coasts.
In India, which also suffered more than 9,000 deaths in the tsunamis, started on Wednesday vaccinating to more than 65,000 refugees in the south to prevent epidemic outbreaks following the disaster in a very worm weather.
The first batch of 56 teams of paramedics fanned out in the worst-hit Nagappattinam and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu state.
The United Nations Children's Fund has supplied 10,000 blankets and 10,000 packets containing cooking utensils to the state.
The local authorities has also sent drinking water and medicines to thousands of survivors living in makeshift relief camps along the coastal areas.
The Thai cabinet has put aside 28 billion baht (about US$700 million) to rebuild the six southern provinces ravaged by Sunday's tidal waves.
The government has also started a series of tax and loan reprieves to help affected households and business to back to normal.
Thailand's six southwestern coastal provinces, including three favored by international tourists, were hit hard on Sunday by tidal waves.
Until Wednesday morning, 1,538 death have been confirmed, more than 9,000 people injured and 1,200 still missing.
In the tourist hotspot Phuket Island, only 200 hotels remained open after the powerful waves snapped down electricity poles, tossed cars and rushed through streets lined with shops and hotels.
In other smaller resort islands of Phi Phi and Lak, the situation was even worse, with almost nothing having withstood thedisaster.
(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2004)
