Death Toll rises

[liqidtouch]

If anyone REALLY wants to help - search out a relief fund online and make a donation (seriously)

and even if all you have is 0.50 ceents to spare then do it - it helps and its usualy 50 cents times the other 10000 people making a 50 cent donation = $5,000

Read the cut story below of the full story here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754820/

Below is a shortend version

--------------------------------

Story:

Aid pours in as tsunami toll rises

to 44,000

Huge relief effort begins after killer waves rock 11 nations

MSNBC News Services

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - The death toll from the epic tidal waves that rocked 11 countries rose to around 44,000 people on Tuesday after Sri Lanka and Indonesia significantly increased their confirmed deaths.

Medical supplies, food and water purification systems poured into the region, part of what the United Nations said would be the biggest relief effort the world has ever seen.

Millions remained homeless.

Rescuers struggled to reach remote locations where thousands more were

likely killed by the deadliest tsunamis in 120 years.

Bodies, many of them children, filled beaches and choked hospital

morgues, raising fears of disease across an 11-nation arc of destruction.

The disaster could be the costliest in history, with many billions

of dollars of damage, said U.N. Undersecretary Jan Egeland, who is in charge of emergency relief coordination. Hundreds of thousands have lost

everything, and millions are living with polluted drinking water

and no health services, he said.

The geographic scope of the disaster was unparalleled. Relief organizations used to dealing with a centralized crisis had to distribute resources over

11 countries in two continents.

SLIDE SHOW

Earthquake, tsunamishit Asia

Click "Launch" to view images from a massive earthquake that hit Asia sparking deadly tsunamis, killing tens of thousands in nine countries.

Helicopters in India rushed medicine to stricken areas, while warships in Thailand steamed to island resorts.

In Sri Lanka, the Health Ministry dispatched 300 physicians to the disaster zone, dropping them off by helicopter.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said the United States was sending helicopters,

and an airborne surgical hospital from Finland arrived in Sri Lanka. A German aircraft was en route with a water purification plant. A great deal is coming in

and they are having a few problems at the moment coordinating it.

UNICEF officials said that about

175 tons of rice arrived in Banda Aceh, Indonesia,

late Monday and six tons of medical supplies

were expected to arrive by Thursday. But most basic supplies were scarce.

Meantime, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday the United States will do more to help the victims and said he regretted a statement by U.N. Humanitarian Aid Chief Jan Egeland, suggesting America was being "stingy".

Initially, the U.S. government pledged $15 million and dispatched disaster specialists to help the Asian nations devastated by the catastrophe.

On Monday, President Bush sent letters of condolence and Powell exclaimed, This is indeed an international tragedy, and we are going to do everything we can.

In an interview on NBCs Today show Tuesday, Powell said that clearly, the United States will be a major contributor to this international effort. And, yes, it will run into the billions of dollars.

Thousands more feared dead

Sri Lanka's government on Tuesday raised its death toll past 18,700, and feared the final death toll would reach 25,000.

"Dead bodies are washing ashore along the coast," said Social Welfare Minister Sumedha Jayasena, who is coordinating relief efforts. "Reports reaching us from the rescue workers indicate there are 25,000 feared dead, and we don't know what to do."

In Indonesia, the country closest to Sunday's 9.0 magnitude quake that sent walls of water crashing into coastlines thousands of miles away, the count rose to 19,000, a number the vice president said could reach 25,000.

"Thousands of victims cannot be reached in some isolated and remote areas," said Purnomo Sidik, the national disaster director.

India's Home Ministry said 4,371 died. But, the International Red Cross estimated around 6,000 deaths in the south Asian country.

Thailand reported 1,516 dead, among them more than 700 tourists. The Red Cross said it was concerned that diseases such as malaria and cholera could add to the toll.

Scores of people were killed in Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Maldives. Deaths were even reported in Africa in Somalia, Tanzania and Seychelles, close to 3,000 miles away.

At least 11 Americans were among the dead, and U.S. embassies in the region were trying to track down hundreds more who were unaccounted for.