tsunami death toll approaches quarter million - AFP - Worldwide News Agency

tsunami death toll approaches quarter million - AFP - Worldwide News Agency

Indian Ocean Tsunami death toll approaches quarter million (19/01/2005)

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) The death toll from last month's Indian Ocean tsunami disaster rose towards a quarter of a million while floods hampered relief efforts in worst-hit Indonesia's Aceh province.

The Indonesian death toll jumped to 166,320, the health ministry said late Wednesday, more than 50,000 higher than the government's previous tally.

A member of the ministry's disaster centre, Dr. Ina, told AFP that 166,080 people had been confirmed killed in Aceh, while there were 240 fatalities in the neighbouring province of North Sumatra.

With the latest tolls, the tsunamis triggered by a 9.0-magnitude quake off the coast of Sumatra island have left nearly 220,000 dead in 11 Indian Ocean countries.