Pangandaran (Indonesia): Desperate villagers and soldiers dug through destroyed homes and hotels on Tuesday looking for survivors of a tsunami on Indonesia's Java island, as the death toll rose to at least 339, officials and media reports said.
Scores more were missing and at least 23,000 people had fled their homes, either because they were destroyed or in fear of another tsunami, said Dudi Junaidi, an official at an emergency coordination post in the worst-hit area of Pangandaran on Java's southern coast.
The tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake, crashed into a 177-kilometre stretch of the coast on Monday without warning, sending boats, cars and motorbikes crashing into resorts and fishing villages.
Tsunami's bundles of joy From rags to riches Once upon a time... Tsunami warning system for India Tree of Life "I don't mind losing any of my property, but please God return my son," said Basril, a villager, as he and his wife tearfully searched though mounds of debris piled up on the beach at Pangandaran, a resort area popular with foreign tourists.
Nearby, the body of a woman lay on the beach, covered with a mat. The death toll rise to at least 339, officials and media reports said.
Junaidi said at least 172 people were killed and 85 others were missing in the Panganderan area.
He said a Pakistani national, a Swedish national and a Dutch national were among the dead, but did not give their genders.
State news agency Antara said 41 other people had died in nearby Cilacap district.
Thirteen others died elswhere along the coast, officials and el-Shinta radio station reported.
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