Indonesia tsunami death toll soars

Source Al Jazeera

The death toll from Indonesia's tsunami has soared to at least 369 with 338 others missing, as questions mount over whether an elaborate tsunami warning system off the country's western coast had failed. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's president, headed on Thursday to the disaster zone, where fears were growing for hundreds still missing following Monday's tsunami. Three-metre high waves triggered by a powerful earthquake hit the Mentawais, a small group of islands 280km to the northwest of Sumatra, on Monday. Disaster response officials said bodies were still being found on beaches and coastal areas in the Mentawais, which took the full force of the tsunami as it washed away entire villages. Ade Edward, a West Sumatra provincial disaster official told AFP news agency that the death toll would climb possibly by as much as 200. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said on its website that 4,000 people had been displaced.