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Red
Cross Red Crescent relief efforts under way in devastated Aceh 2 January 2005 A Japanese Red Cross team specialising in emergency health care arrived by helicopter in the town of Meulobah, on the west coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh, on Saturday. At least 10,000 lives were lost in the town and many thousands of people have been displaced by the tsunami that devastated coastal areas of Asia on December 26. The team is working as part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies operation in Indonesia which is focusing on the most vulnerable communities on the west coast of Aceh between Tapaktuang and Meulaboh. It has begun distributing basic medical provisions such as bandages, dressing materials and painkillers to those most in need. Equipment arriving in the coming hours from Medan airport will allow the team to provide immediate basic health care for up to 30,000 people. They have been joined by a Spanish Red Cross water and sanitation team which is putting in place equipment to provide clean water for up to 40,000 people. The teams are among the first western aid workers to have reached the devastated town, where access is currently by helicopter only. Few roads across the disaster stricken region remain open and the main airports are heavily congested with planes loaded with relief items, making access difficult. According to Red Cross health specialist Caroline Dunn the humanitarian needs in Meulaboh are massive: “Many of the bodies buried under collapsed buildings are now starting to get to an advanced stage of decomposition. Survivors have nothing. Shelter, food, clean water and medicine are all lacking.” The death toll in Indonesia now stands at more than 80,000. In Banda Aceh, the capital of the province worst hit by the disaster, an operational base has been established by the International Federation. Major needs identified so far include ambulances to evacuate bodies, first aid equipment, surgical masks, gloves and body bags as well as essential clothing. Over 600 volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross, which has been charged by the government with collecting and evacuating dead bodies, had removed 9,336 corpses by the end of Saturday. Many of these volunteers are believed to be emotionally distressed and have been offered psychological support. Although the Indonesian Red Cross Office in Banda Aceh was completely destroyed in the disaster, volunteers have distributed 1,000 tarpaulins and 1,800 family kits comprising basic cooking and hygiene materials to those most in need of food and shelter. In Sri Lanka, where it is now estimated that over 800,000 people are without shelter and over 12,000 people are seriously injured, Red Cross teams specializing in emergency health care and water and sanitation are travelling to the Ampara district of the Island. Red Cross teams with expertise in telecommunications and logistics are providing vital support to the operation from bases in Colombo. Meanwhile almost 3,000 Sri Lankan Red Cross volunteers in the field are providing first aid and distributing non-food relief items across some 15 districts in Sri Lanka. At mobile health clinic camps in Vaikkala, Vidyalaya, Vennappuwa Church and Nainamadama, 40 Sri Lankan Red Cross volunteers treated 7,200 people and distributed relief items such as plastic sheeting and cotton blankets. In Killinochi, 100 volunteers have provided first aid and health care to almost 1,000 beneficiaries. In Chavakachcheri and Point Pedro, 1,520 volunteers are providing basic health care and have distributed 2,500 cakes of soap along with other relief. Notes to editors: For more detailed on operations in other affected countries please see the latest operation update from the International Federation at www.ifrc.org Media officers in the field (Please avoid calling during night hours) Bijoy Patro, Delhi 0091 98102 841 96 (mobile) 00 91 112685 8671/2 (office) Bandula Jayasakera, Sri Lanka, Colombo 00 94 777 55 7002 (mobile) 00 94 11 471 59 77 (office) Till Mayer, Sri Lanka 00 94 773 157 670 Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Sri Lanka 00 34 610 217 501 00 34 647 660 597 Ian Woolverton, Indonesia 00 62 813 167 66054 (mobile) Maude Froberg, Bangkok 0066 182 39218 For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact: Marie-Françoise Borel, Press Officer Tel: + 41 22 730 43 46 Roy Probert, Press Officer Tel: + 41 22 730 42 96 Eva Calvo, Press Officer Tel: + 41 22 730 43 57 Sian Bowen, Head of Media Tel: + 41 79 217 33 88 Duty phoneTel: + 41 79 416 38 81 The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 181 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. © International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies |
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