Banda Aceh becomes city of the dead

Banda Aceh becomes city of the dead

The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Once a beautiful and historic city with its picturesque Baitur
Rahman grand mosque a renowned landmark, Banda Aceh, the capital
of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, has become a city of corpses in the
wake of a monstrous tsunami that swept across it.

The city is pitch dark and littered with dead bodies and
mounds of construction debris, demolished cars and thick mud.

Spaces once filled with marketplaces, hotels, government
offices, shops and ordinary houses are now filled with rubble.

Banda Aceh, located a mere five kilometers inland, is probably
one of the cities most severely devastated by the quake on
Sunday.

The tsunami brought all daily activities to an abrupt
standstill, leaving behind people wandering through the wrecked
city in search of loved ones -- dead or alive -- among the
debris.

Other visible activities include vehicles shuttling to and
fro, transporting the corpses of those who perished in the
calamity, and public works teams clearing rocks, trees and other
debris carried by the strong wave.

Some dead bodies were left unattended among rubble on the lawn
of Baitur Rahman mosque and had started to decompose.

Local residents' woes were aggravated by a complete
electricity and communication blackout when the tidal wave
severed lines and cables as of Tuesday afternoon.

Cellular services were also down, and residents were unable to
contact the outside world, to reach loved ones waiting
frantically for news.

Antara reported that thousands of Banda Aceh residents had
fled to Medan, North Sumatra or Jakarta, taking whatever flights
were available -- including those provided by flag carrier
Garuda, private airline Jatayu and Hercules aircraft belonging to
the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Blang Bintang airport, located about 30 kilometers from Banda
Aceh, was teeming with Acehnese anxious to leave the ravaged
city.

A report from the Malaysian mission in Medan said three
foreign nationals went missing when the tsunami hit.

The Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai were last seen at the
Kuala Tripa hotel, Malaysian consul-general Yusuf Abdullah said.

"They are part of a seven-member delegation tasked by their
respective governments to gauge cooperation potential in
education and economy," he said.