The provincial government of tsunami-hit province of Aceh said that it found and buried some 3,809 more bodies in the province on Wednesday, increasing the total death toll to at least 108,809 people, official of the province said on Thursday.
Vice governor of Aceh Province Azwar Abu Bakar said that the retrieval process was still facing obstacles due to lack of transportation because only 40 dump trucks were provided per day to operate in Banda Aceh, the capital of the province and Aceh Besar district, the most damaged areas.
"Today, the evacuation will continue in Aceh Besar district and Banda Aceh town," he told reporters.
To help more than a half million survivors, the local government had distributed 2,177 tons of rice and 15,042 tons of other food, he said.
The local government simplified the number of refugee camps from over 100 into 24, in order to ease coordination, Bakar said.
Military hospitals and public hospitals as well as other hospitals assisted by Germany had operated in the province, he said.
The vice governor said that currently the local government put priority to restore land transportation, in order to speed up aids distribution.
"We have limited number of helicopters to channel the assistance," he said.
Bakar also said that the government would provide houses for those made homeless by the catastrophe.
An extremely earthquake triggered massive tidal waves that leveled parts of the province of Aceh and North Sumatra.
(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2005)
