SRI LANKA: BODIES CONTINUE TO BE DISCOVERED BY RESCUE TEAMS IN AMPARA AND EASTERN PROVINCES STRUCK BY TSUNAMI
Record ID:
646571
SRI LANKA: BODIES CONTINUE TO BE DISCOVERED BY RESCUE TEAMS IN AMPARA AND EASTERN PROVINCES STRUCK BY TSUNAMI
- Title: SRI LANKA: BODIES CONTINUE TO BE DISCOVERED BY RESCUE TEAMS IN AMPARA AND EASTERN PROVINCES STRUCK BY TSUNAMI
- Date: 5th January 2005
- Summary: (W5) MARUTHAMUNAI, EASTERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA (JANUARY 5, 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF JAMAT-UL-ISLAMI (ISLAMIC PARTY) TEAM OF RESCUE VOLUNTEERS EXTRACTING BODY OF A WOMAN FROM UNDER PILE OF RUBBLES 0.07 2. SLV RESCUE TEAM MEMBER SHOWING SMALL BACKPACK CONTAINING SCHOOL BOOKS 0.15 3. SLV RESCUE TEAM PLACING BODY OF WOMAN WRAPPED UP IN WHITE SHEETS ON WOODEN DOOR 0.27 4. SLV RESCUE TEAM MEMBERS CARRYING AWAY BODY OF A SECOND WOMAN DISCOVERED UNDER RUBBLE 0.31 5. SLV RESCUE TEAM MEMBERS CARRYING AWAY BODY OF FIRST WOMAN FOR BURIAL 0.43 6. WIDE OF RESCUE TEAM STANDING AROUND PILE OF RUBBLE/ PAN TO FLOODED STREET 0.51 7. CLOSE OF LOCAL RESIDENT POINTING AT LOCATION WHERE BODY OF SMALL BOY HAS BEEN FOUND AND SAYING 'SMALL, SMALL' 1.00 8. SLV BABY'S BODY WRAPPED UP IN WHITE SHEET BEING TAKEN AWAY 1.10 9. SCU RESCUE TEAM MEMBER IN DISTRESS AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF BABY'S BODY 1.18 10. VARIOUS OF JANATA VIMUHTHI PERAMUNA (JVP - PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT) AND JAMAT-UL-ISLAMI (ISLAMIC PARTY) VOLUNTEERS CLEARING RUBBLE AND SEARCHING FOR BODIES 1.27 11. VARIOUS OF RESCUE TEAMS AT WORK IN RUINED/ FLOODED VILLAGE 1.40 12. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(English) PRASANNA PRIYANKARA, MEMBER OF JVP, SAYING: "So now we are trying to make this people to live the same life. We can give something one time (again). We are trying to do something for their whole lives so that's why we came. We are 200 or 300 people because we know we have to do something." 2.10 13. SLV MORE OF RESCUE TEAM CLEARING AREA/ LIFTING UP BRANCHES OF PALM TREES 2.20 (W5) KALAMUNAI AREA, NEAR MARATHAMUNAI, EASTERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA (JANUARY 5, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 14. VARIOUS OF MASS GRAVES IN WHICH ABOUT 3600 PEOPLE ARE BURIED 2.48 15. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(Tamil) RAHIMA ADAM BAWA YUSEF LEBBE, LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING: "The first funeral started with a man and a woman, which we had previously washed. As we finished washing them 10 or 15 more bodies arrived at a time, in a vehicle. As soon as we started to wash these bodies more and more bodies begun to arrive and we continued to wash them and wash them to prepare them for the funeral. There were people who were asking me:"Don't you feel like fainting to do this job?" Why should I feel like that? What has happened to them today will happen to me tomorrow." (question: "How many bodies have you buried?") If I think about it I will feel dizzy." 3.29 16. WIDE OF LOCAL PEOPLE NEAR FENCE 3.35 (W5) MARATHAMUNAI, EASTERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA (JANUARY 5, 2005)(REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) 17. VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS QUEUEING UP TO RECEIVE FOOD NEAR DESTROYED HOUSES 3.42 18. SLV WOMEN AND CHILD WAITING 3.48 19. PAN ALONG QUEUE OF PEOPLE WAITING FOR FOOD 4.02 20. VARIOUS OF FOOD PROVISIONS PROVIDED BY NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES, DISTRIBUTED BY LOCAL NGO (NON GOVERNAMENTAL ORGANISATION)/ SACKS BEING UNLOADED FROM TRUCK 4.12 21. VARIOUS OF BAGS OF RICE BEING COLLECTED BY LOCAL RESIDENTS 4.21 22. SLV MEN WITH BICYCLES COLLECTING BAGS OF RICE 4.25 23. SLV GIRL AND BOY CARRYING BAGS OF RICE 4.31 24. WIDE OF DESTRUCTION/ PILES OF RUBBISH 4.36 25. HAV / PAN OF DESTROYED HOUSES 4.44 26. WIDE OF DESTROYED BUILDING AND WATER TOWER 4.48 27. WIDE OF TWO BOYS WALKING ALONG STREET/ PAN OF DESTROYED HOUSES 4.56 28. WIDE OF ELDERLY COUPLE SITTING IN STREET IN FRONT OF THEIR DESTROYED HOME 5.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th January 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MARUTHAMUNAI AND KALAMUNAI AREA (NEAR MARUTHAMUNAI), EASTERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA
- Country: Sri Lanka
- Reuters ID: LVA4JBK2L2K38KQ0G4B3VN1WMZEY
- Story Text: Bodies still being dug from Ampara district and
rescue efforts progress slowly in one of worst-hit areas of
Sri Lanka.
The Ampara district on the east coast of Sri
Lanka was one of the hardest hit Tsunami areas. Out of the
30,000 killed in the country, nearly 11,000 came from this
densely populated 25 miles coastal stretch.
Bodies were still being discovered on Wednesday
(January 5), on a daily basis. They are quickly buried to
prevent the spread of diseases, which has been one of the
main concerns in the aftermath of the giant waves.
The joint effort of rescue teams from different social
or religious affiliations, has been essential in the
recovery and clearance of the Ampara Distict where not many
international
NGOs (Non Governmental Organistaions) are present are
relief efforts have been slow and arduous.
Hundreds of volunteers have come from all over the
country to clean up the area and assist in the dreadful
task of recovering bodies. 4500 people are still missing in
Sri Lanka.
"So now we are trying to make this people to live the
same life. We can give something one time (again). We are
trying to do something for their whole lives so that's why
we came. We
are 200 or 300 people because we know we have to do
something," said Prasanna Priyankara, a member of the
People's Liberation Front, a Marxist politcal party, whose
team is
working closely with Jamat-ul-Islam's (Islamic Party) volunteers.
Mass graves can be found scattered all along the coast
line and many funerals, in this predominantly muslim
neighbourough, have been accorded Islamic rites where
bodies are thoroughly washed before being buried.
"The first funeral started with a man and a woman,
which we previously washed. As we finished washing them 10
or 15 more bodies arrived at a time, in a vehicle. As soon
as we started to wash these bodies more and more bodies
begun to arrive and we continued to wash them and wash them
to prepared them for the funeral", said Rahima Adam Bawa
Yusef Lebbe, a local resident in the Kalamunai area, whom
supervised the burial of about 3600 people now resting in a
mass grave near her house.
"There were people who were asking me:"Don't you feel
like fainting to do this job?" Why should I feel like that?
What has happened to them today will happen to me
tomorrow." (question: "How many bodies have you buried?")
If I think about it I will feel dizzy," she added.
The Tsunami's destructive force in this particular area
stretches for almost one and a half kilometres inland,
flattening everything on its way.
Local NGOs distribute food collected from neighbouring
villages in a desolated landscape.
The surviving villagers quietly collect their rations
from the back of trucks and calmly walk away.
And then there are those who sit hopeless in front of
what is left of their homes, in awe and despair.
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