Indonesia hunts for survivors

The military has been co-ordinating relief efforts in Aceh

Indonesian troops and volunteers have begun a desperate search for survivors from Sunday's earthquake and sea surges which left at least 4,400 people dead.

In the worst-hit province of Aceh, hundreds of bodies were lined under plastic tents awaiting identification. Almost a million people have been left homeless, many taking refuge on higher ground and in mosques and tents.

Officials warned of the danger of disease, as hospitals faced the possibility of running out of medicine.

Sunday's earthquake hit 100km (65 miles) off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Tens of people saw the rising water and didn't run to high ground, moreover they kept watching it. Several of my personnel are even missing Marine Col Buyung Lelana

Communications with the capital of Aceh, Banda Aceh, were cut for several hours, but on Monday, the scale of the region's difficulties began to become apparent.

News reports said dozens of buildings had been destroyed in Banda Aceh. But most of the deaths were caused by sea surges, also known as Tsunamis, which followed the quake.

Communications have still not been restored with parts of Aceh, raising the prospect the death toll could keep rising.

"We have ordered 15,000 troops into the field to search for survivors," military spokesman Edy Sulistiadi told the Associated Press news agency.

"They are mostly retrieving corpses."

Hopes of getting relief supplies to the disaster victims were lifted after Indonesian authorities said flights could soon resume at a major airport in Aceh, the BBC's Jakarta correspondent, Rachel Harvey, reports.

National mourning

Many of those killed in Indonesia are said to be children and the elderly, who were swept away by the surging tides.

Witnesses said the retreating waters revealed many bodies hanging in the branches of trees.

The search for survivors is likely to be hindered by the dense jungles that cover Aceh's hills, where many are likely to have fled, our correspondent says.

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has declared three days of national mourning.

Getting aid and supplies to Aceh will be especially difficult. The province is under military rule as the army fights separatist rebels, and the movements of aid agencies and journalists is severely restricted.