Tsunami death toll hits 370

Rescuers searching islands ravaged by a tsunami off western Indonesia raised the death toll to 370 yesterday as more corpses were wrapped in body bags or buried by neighbours. Officials said hundreds of missing people may have been swept out to sea.

• A woman who lost her house and husband in the earthquake-triggered tsunami weeps with her daughters on Pagai island, in Mentawai Islands, Indonesia. Pic: AP

Elsewhere in Indonesia, the volcano that killed 33 people earlier this week began erupting again, though there were no reports of new injuries or damage. Mourners held a mass burial yesterday during a lull in Mount Merapi's rumblings.

The twin catastrophes struck within 24 hours in different corners of the seismically charged region, severely testing the nation's emergency response network.

Islanders dug graves and put up tarpaulins to sleep under in one of the hardest-hit areas, where a 10ft (three metre) wave had swept houses off their foundations and deposited the shattered remains in the jungle. Many residents who fled to the hills were refusing to return home for fear the sea might lash out again.

Officials say a multi-million pound warning system installed after a monster 2004 quake and tsunami broke down a month ago because it was not being properly maintained. A German official at the project disputed that, saying the system was working but the quake's epicentre had been too close to the Mentawai islands for residents to get the warning before the killer wave struck.

Search and rescue teams - kept away for days by stormy seas and bad weather - found roads and beaches with swollen corpses lying on them, according to Mr Harmensyah, head of the West Sumatra provincial disaster management centre. Some wore face masks as they wrapped corpses in black body bags on Pagai Utara, one of the four main islands in the Mentawai chain located between Sumatra and the Indian Ocean.

Ferry Faisal, of the West Sumatra provincial disaster management agency, said 338 people were still missing.

Mr Harmensyah said the teams were losing hope of finding those missing alive since the wall of water, created by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, crashed into the islands on Monday. "They believe many, many of the bodies were swept to sea," he said.

In a rare bright spot, an 18-month-old baby was found alive in a clump of trees on Pagai Selatan island on Wednesday. Mr Harmensyah said a ten-year-old boy found the toddler but that both parents were feared dead.On Pagai Seatandug island, the wave deposited chunks of coral and rocks where homes once stood in Pro Rogat village, one of the hardest-hit areas with 65 dead. Villagers huddled under canvas in the rain and talked about how many who fled to the hills were too afraid to return home.

Mud and palm fronds covered the body of village pastor, 60-year-old Mr Simorangkir.His corpse lay on the ground, partially zipped into a body bag.

About 800 miles to the east of the tsunami zone, Mount Merapi in central Java began spewing ash again about 4:30pm yesterday. Most residents have already been evacuated from the area.