Tsunami Missing List Reduced
Indonesia has slashed the number of people missing after the Boxing Day tsunami from 93,458 to 37,063 without significantly raising the number of dead.
Indonesia has slashed the number of people missing after the Boxing Day tsunami from 93,458 to 37,063 without significantly raising the number of dead.
No explanation for the adjustment was given. But an official involved in the tabulation told the Guardian many of those first thought to be missing had run away and had only just returned to their home villages.
"Perhaps by the end of March they had got over their trauma and not only wanted to return to their original homes but felt comfortable to do so," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A second factor, he said, was that the number of dead had been recalculated, to 126,915. This is only 174 more than the previous figure, released on Tuesday, although he doubted this would be the final toll. Most of the missing are feared dead but cannot be categorised as such until 12 months after their disappearance.
Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, bore the brunt of the disaster, with all but a few thousand of the fatalities hailing from there.
No explanation for the adjustment was given. But an official involved in the tabulation told the Guardian many of those first thought to be missing had run away and had only just returned to their home villages.
"Perhaps by the end of March they had got over their trauma and not only wanted to return to their original homes but felt comfortable to do so," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A second factor, he said, was that the number of dead had been recalculated, to 126,915. This is only 174 more than the previous figure, released on Tuesday, although he doubted this would be the final toll. Most of the missing are feared dead but cannot be categorised as such until 12 months after their disappearance.
Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, bore the brunt of the disaster, with all but a few thousand of the fatalities hailing from there.
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