Over 157,000 deaths from the tsunami

New total death toll, more than 100,000 in Indonesia alone. In Sumatra, rescuer work is hampered by guerrilla warfare. Extraordinary high tide in the Andaman Islands due to the earthquake. In Thailand all unidentified bodies will be taken to Phuket

Donor countries have pledged today in Geneva to pay 717 million dollars to the United Nations for immediate aid for tsunami victims in Southeast Asia. The UN announced this during the conference in Geneva.

As a precaution, the European Commission has asked the countries hit by the tsunami to provide information about their companies that treat fish products such as fish and shellfish that may have been contaminated by the disaster. It was learned in Brussels where it is emphasized that, based on the information received (something should arrive from Thailand as early as next week), the Commission could decide to withdraw export authorizations to the EU. However, the approach will be “case-by-case”, and therefore not generalized, to avoid damaging those fish economies already hit hard by the tsunami.

March 17 2005