Corpse evacuation in Aceh continues: PMI<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, NAD<\/p>\n
Humanitarian volunteers are still finding corpses in Aceh, almost
\ntwo months after the tsunami struck the stricken province, a
\nrelief worker says.<\/p>\n
Some 1,850 volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and
\nother organizations were still recovering and burying between 200
\nand 300 corpses a day, a PMI official said.<\/p>\n
Body recovery unit head Eka Susila said that, as of Tuesday,
\nthe volunteers had buried a total of 123,142 bodies across the
\nprovince, while in the past three days alone they had recovered
\n839.<\/p>\n
Eka said most of Aceh's coast areas had been cleared of bodies
\nwhile volunteers were still finding hundreds in
\nin the west, primarily in regions around Calang, Aceh Besar and
\nMeulaboh.<\/p>\n
\"While our target was to finish our work by the end of this
\nmonth, we are still finding hundreds of bodies every day. Most of
\nthem are under the rubble of destroyed buildings. We will review
\nour activities on Feb. 26 to decide whether to declare our
\noperation over, or to continue the massive search,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Eka appealed to locals to help search in their neighborhoods
\nand report any finds to the PMI.<\/p>\n
\"However, they are also welcome to bury the dead bodies once
\nthey find them by themselves,\" Eka said.<\/p>\n
It was getting harder for workers to evacuate bodies now
\nbecause many were wedged under large chunks of concrete or piles
\nof timber. Most volunteers were removing their masks to find the
\nbodies by the stench, not by sight, he said.<\/p>\n
After two months, in many cases they found only skeletons or
\npartial remains.<\/p>\n
Difficult road access and lack of heavy equipment had hampered
\nthe search and it was still challenging for the PMI, the military
\nand other non-governmental organizations to enter some remote
\nareas.<\/p>\n
\"We have to synchronize our schedules with local institutions
\nin order to be able to use their equipment. Sometimes, we also
\nlack gloves and boots,\" Eka said.<\/p>\n
He denied rumors that many bodies could still be seen hanging
\nin trees in Meulaboh. Volunteers had now removed all the visible
\nbodies from the area, he said.<\/p>\n
Despite the difficulties, he estimated aid workers had cleared
\nabout 90 percent of the tsunami-hit areas.<\/p>\n
The National Coordination Body for the Aceh Tsunami reported
\non Tuesday that 113,397 people were still listed as missing from
\nthe tsunamis.<\/p>\n
While many of these were probably dead, others could still be
\nin refugee camps or have left the province to start new lives
\nelsewhere, the report said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/corpse-evacuation-in-aceh-continues-pmi-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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