Reply #76: Indonesia Aceh deaths might hit 80,000 - U.N. official

[allemand]

Wednesday December 29, 7:04 PM

Indonesia Aceh deaths might hit 80,000 - U.N. official

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - The death toll in Indonesia's Aceh province from a quake and tsunami that struck on Sunday might reach between 50,000 and 80,000, a UN official said.

"I would say we are probably talking about somewhere in the order of 80,000 people, 50 to 80,000 people, that would be my educated guess," Michael Elmquist, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Indonesia, told reporters on Wednesday.

"It's a guess based on the relation between the numbers we have so far and our experience from other earthquake disasters."

Elmquist said the coastal town of Meulaboh alone may have had 40,000 deaths.

More:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/041229/137/2iq6v.html