Tsunami toll rises above 125,000

On very early Friday morning, Reuters was reporting that the death toll in Sunday's tsunami had now climbed to 125,000.

I have a feeling that it will mount yet higher. Some are saying that the toll in Indonesia alone may be 80,000 or more. As relief workers reach some coastal and island areas, they are finding nobody at all, with entire villages gone in places like Aceh. Just gone.

Banda Aceh in Indonesia, which had recently seen some improvement in the security situation after a long separatist insurrection, has been devastated.

I put a courtesy advertisement on the right for Oxfam's relief effort and blogads has put up a courtesy ad for UNICEF's effors. On this last day of 2004, let me just ask that anyone who has been grateful for Informed Comment during the past year take a moment to donate to Oxfam's tsunami aid project, or to UNICEF or to one of your choice. The death toll is incredible, but the needs of the living are unimaginable.