The death toll from a tsunami that struck
western Indonesia
earlier this week rose to 394 on Friday as hopes dimmed for another 312 still
listed as missing, officials said.
"Three hundred and ninety four people were killed and 312 people are still missing," disaster management official Bambang Suharjo told AFP.
He said another 12,865 people were living in makeshift camps on the Mentawai islands off the west coast of Sumatra, where entire villages were wiped out by the three-metre (10-foot) tsunami on Monday night.
Meanwhile, on the island of Java in the centre of the disaster-prone archipelago, a volcano which this week killed 32 people again spewed ash and deadly heat clouds, but there were no reports of damage.
Disaster response officials said bodies were being found on beaches and coastal areas in the Mentawai islands, where the tsunami had washed away entire villages.
Earlier, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the area to console the victims.
He had cut short his visit to Vietnam where he was due to attend a regional summit.
One survivor broke down and wept as he told the President Yudhoyono how he and his family had lost everything.
A ship bearing aid including food, water, medical supplies as well as body bags arrived on Thursday at Sikakap, on North Pagai.
Medical workers take care of wounded victims from the village of Munte Baru-Baru hamlet on North Pagai island
-AFP/wk
