Sabah braces for outbreak of disease<\/p>\n
KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia (AFP): Malaysia's eastern Sabah state
\nis bracing for an outbreak of water-borne diseases after its
\nwater supply was damaged in a tropical storm that left 141 people
\ndead, including at least 82 Indonesians immigrants, and up to 200
\nmissing.<\/p>\n
Health Minister Chua Jui Meng on Sunday placed six flood-hit
\ndistricts in Sabah on cholera alert, while all medical and health
\nauthorities are directed to mobilize teams to take preventive
\nmeasures.<\/p>\n
Water contamination following the flash floods also threatens
\nan outbreak of typhoid and diarrhea, Chua warned.<\/p>\n
Officials at the main search-and-rescue operations center in
\nthis state capital said they had not yet received any reports of
\ncholera.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 300 rescue workers yesterday resumed their search
\nat dawn for victims buried in the debris left behind Thursday by
\ntropical storm Greg, which ripped the west coast of Sabah.<\/p>\n
The death toll climbed to 141 with the discovery of six more
\nbodies Sunday, and about 200 were still unofficially reported
\nmissing in the country's worst natural disaster. Most of the
\nvictims were Indonesian immigrants.<\/p>\n
"Some of the bodies could have been swept into the sea," an
\nofficial said, referring to riverside settlements badly damaged
\nduring the storm and strong currents in the adjacent rivers.<\/p>\n
A total of 17,000 people from 3,825 homes in 226 villages on
\nSabah's west coast were affected by the storm. Three thousand
\nvictims are housed at 11 evacuation centers, an official said.<\/p>\n
"No one has been found alive today. The search is going on,"
\nthe official told AFP.<\/p>\n
The timber town of Keningau, 130 kilometers southwest of Kota
\nKinabalu bore the brunt of tropical storm Greg's fury.<\/p>\n
Keningau also faces the highest risk of being struck by
\ndisease because it has no clean treated water.<\/p>\n
In a separate development, Malaysian police in Kuala Lumpur
\nsaid yesterday it will deport 13 Indonesians who were detained
\nfor trespassing in foreign embassies in their attempts to seek
\npolitical asylum.<\/p>\n
Ghazali Yaakub, the police internal security and public order
\ndirector, told the New Sunday Times the 13, from Indonesia's Aceh
\nprovince, were illegal immigrants and would not receive special
\ntreatment.<\/p>\n
"The Acehnese immigrants have not only entered our country and
\ncontravened our laws but they have also trespassed into the
\ncompounds of foreign missions. Once they break the law, we have
\nto take action," he said.<\/p>\n
The 13 were among 40 Indonesians who Wednesday tried to enter
\nthe embassies of Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands,
\nSwitzerland and the United States to seek political asylum.<\/p>\n
Most were from Aceh and claimed they had been tortured by the
\nIndonesian army because of their links to the separatist Aceh
\nMerdeka (Free Aceh) movement. They said they would be persecuted
\nby Indonesian authorities if repatriated.<\/p>",
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