Church in the World

Disease spreads as tsunami death toll rises

Catholic aid agencies around the world have mobilised a massive relief effort to help the many thousands of wounded and homeless after last Sunday?s earthquake and tsunamis claimed more than 50,000 lives, and it is feared the number of dead could rise much further. A large number of the dead appear to be children.

In India, where the death toll stood at 4,500 and rising as The Tablet went to press, several hundred Catholic pilgrims died at the sea-side Marian shrine of Velankanni in southern Tamil Nadu, when tidal waves rising as high as 60 feet hit the country?s eastern coast. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and Indonesia were also struck.

The tsunamis followed an earthquake in the Indian Ocean measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, the epicentre of which was under the sea near the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Thousands of miles of coastline from Indonesia to Tanzania were battered by the deadly waves. Fishing villages were devastated, power and communications cut and homes destroyed. More than 1 million people have been affected.

During his regular Sunday audience last week, Pope John Paul II offered prayers for the victims, saying a ?dark shadow? had been cast over the year?s Christmas festivities. ?We pray for the victims of this terrible tragedy, and we pledge our solidarity with those who are suffering from it,? said the Pope.

Jan Egeland, the UN?s emergency relief co-ordinator, told CNN that the devastation caused by the tsunamis ?may be the worst natural disaster in recent history because it is affecting so many heavily-populated coastal areas ... so many vulnerable communities?. Fears are growing of the possible outbreak of diseases spread by contaminated water and putrefying bodies. ?We could have epidemics within days, unless we get health systems up and running,? said Mr Egeland.

Bishop Devadass Ambrose Mariadoss of Tanjore, southern India, said ?This is a catastrophe ? I have never seen a calamity like it.? He was speaking to The Tablet from the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health at Velankanni, 145 miles from Chennai (formerly Madras) which is visited annually by nearly 20 million pilgrims.

Although there were no casualties inside the basilica ? where around 2,000 pilgrims were attending Mass when a tidal wave brought down the compound walls ? Bishop Mariadoss said he was deeply saddened by the deaths of hundreds of pilgrims who were on the beach in front of the basilica when the waves snatched them away. ?We recovered more than 400 bodies today. There could be more lying around,? he said.

Caritas staff in India are reporting churches full of dead bodies collected after the flood. More than 100 people were killed as colossal waves struck two churches ? in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, and Nellore, Andhra Pradesh ? packed with faithful attending Sunday Mass. At least 3,000 people were killed in the Indian islands of Andaman and Nicobar, close to the epicentre of the quake. Thousands were missing after five villages were swept away, an official said.

The Catholic Bishops? Conference of India (CBCI) said temporary shelters had been set up by church charities in the affected areas. In Sri Lanka, nearly 20,000 people, including 70 foreigners, were killed in last Sunday?s disaster. Catholic relief workers say it is the worst natural disaster in the country?s history. More than one million people have been made homeless, camps for displaced people are inundated and aid workers are under pressure to ensure they have clean water and sanitation to prevent an outbreak of disease.

In Indonesia, more than 15,000 people were killed, and the Indonesian vice-president has warned he expects the toll to reach as high as 25,000 once the true scale of the catastrophe becomes clear. In the Indonesian province of Aceh, which has seen conflicts raging between government forces and separatist rebels for more than 25 years, two-thirds of the provincial capital was destroyed.

While Indonesia?s military chief called for a temporary halt to hostilities with rebels in Aceh, it was not clear whether international relief agencies would be allowed access to the tightly controlled province.

Almost 1,500 people are known to have died in Thailand, many hundreds of them foreign tourists.

The devastating effects of the tsunamis were experienced more than 2,000 miles away in East Africa, where 100 fishermen were declared dead in Somalia, and 10 people were reported killed in Tanzania.

Relief efforts will be initially centred on providing shelter, food aid, and medical assistance. International Caritas agencies have pledged ?1m. to cover immediate needs. The Catholic aid agency, Cafod, has set up a donations hotline on 0500 858885.

Michael Hirst