The scale of the disaster unleashed by an enormous undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean became apparent yesterday when the death toll from the tsunami climbed to more than 24,000. The final death toll could be thousands higher as more bodies are found. John Aglionby in Phuket, Jonathan Steele in Panadura, and Patrick Barkham and Brian Whitaker in London report.
Aid agencies warned that disease could now hit stricken communities across south-east Asia and lead to yet more deaths.
As putrefied bodies were piled on beaches in Sri Lanka and rescue teams reported a stench from human corpses mixed with dead animals in the Indonesian province of Aceh, aid workers warned that typhoid, diarrhoea and hepatitis epidemics could break out within days because of polluted drinking water.
The death toll could more than double before disease spreads, with thousands still missing in Aceh and 30,000 unaccounted for on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, near the northern tip of the earthquake's faultline. Burma's military government gave a low figure for casualties, but the real number of dead could be much higher.
With food, drink, sanitation, shelter and healthcare urgently needed in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, a huge international rescue effort was under way last night. Millions of dollars in aid were pledged, but a senior UN official warned that the international effort faced an unprecedented challenge in dealing with a disaster that touched so many countries.
"We are used to dealing with disasters in one country. But I think something like this spread across many countries and islands is unprecedented," said Ms Yvette Stevens of the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Few countries in the region emerged unscathed from the death and destruction caused by the earthquake. It sent tsunamis across the Indian Ocean without warning on St Stephen's Day, travelling 5,000km and destroying coastal villages as far away as Somalia, where officials said hundreds were dead.
With a nationwide toll of more than 12,000, mortuaries in Sri Lanka were full. In the town of Panadura, bodies spilled out into the sun from the hospital's eight refrigerated chambers.
Across south-east Asia, hundreds more people were missing, including at least 200 police and family members believed buried under their barracks in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, a police spokesman said.
Western tourists and the wealthy did not escape. The 21-year-old grandson of Bhumibol Adulyadej, the king of Thailand, was killed on a jet-ski, while 15 tourists from Britain, and dozens more from France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, South Korea, the US, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Taiwan and Japan were confirmed dead by their governments. Thousands were still missing last night.
Holidaymakers arriving at London's Heathrow airport spoke of the horrific scenes they had witnessed.
Patong Beach on Phuket was awash with bodies, according to plasterer Mick Byrne, (42) from Patcham near Brighton: "There were bodies floating in and out of the sea. It was like a holocaust, like something out of a horror film, it was absolutely terrible ... We were having breakfast and then suddenly the waves just rolled in. I saw an Irish fellow pull a Thai girl out of the kitchen by her hair. The sea just rose, there was no big wave it just came steadily upwards."
(Guardian Service, PA, Reuters)
Martin Wall adds:
Up to 10 Irish citizens received medical attention as a result of Sunday's earthquake and tsunami, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, said. "There are approximately five to 10 people who are receiving medical care, but it's a bit difficult to estimate what the situation is because most of these countries don't require a visa," Mr Ahern said.
"From the calls we are getting - we got 1,000 calls to lines over the last 24 hours - we estimate there are about 500 people in the affected areas altogether."
Given the number of independent travellers and the fact that some countries do not require visas, the Department does not have precise details on the numbers in the affected areas but it is trying to trace all Irish citizens in affected countries.
The process could take several days because of telecommunications problems in the region.
A spokesman for Twohig's Travel, which had between 200 and 250 clients in Phuket and Krabi in Thailand when the disaster struck, said all of its clients were safe.
Mr Ed Burke said all passengers who were due to travel to the two destinations had been offered alternative accommodation elsewhere.
The President, Mrs McAleese, said she was greatly distressed by the appalling loss of life and the likelihood of casualty figures continuing to rise.