Meulaboh

Meulaboh -- also spelled "Moulabouh", the capital of the district (Kabupaten/Kota) of Aceh Barat -- an area among the hardest-hit by the tsunamis caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, is on the west coast of the special territory (daerah istimewa) of Aceh, 175km southeast of Banda Aceh, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Estimated deaths there are 40,000 people out of a population of 120,000. Meulaboh was just 150km from the epicenter of the earthquake. The tsunami destroyed buildings and washed fishing boats 3km inland.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia said that the final count might reach 400,000 dead (for all of Indonesia).

"The casualty rates in Meulaboh defy imagination," said Aitor Lacomba, Indonesian director of aid group International Rescue Committee. "Tens of thousands need immediate assistance there."

A damaged airstrip has been cleared enabling International Red Cross medical teams from Japan, Spain and Singapore to begin treating survivors.

"There is a strong smell of putrefaction and, whilst body retrieval has commenced, it can be assumed that there are still hundreds, possibly thousands of bodies remaining underneath the debris," said Red Cross engineer Sara Escudero.

The Red Cross said it would use Meulaboh as an aid staging post for the Sumatran west coast, as Singapore deployed a second helicopter landing ship there on Tuesday, with 200 men, food supplies and trucks.

The Environmental group Greenpeace is sending its flagship, Rainbow Warrior, to Meulaboh with aid and a team from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

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