Tsunami survivors show signs of disease
Relief workers reported the first signs of disease today among survivors of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands.
Aid efforts were being hampered by transport bottlenecks and regular aftershocks.
Some children in makeshift camps that have sprung up in hills behind towns hit by Monday’s disaster had diarrhoea, and the need for fresh drinking water was becoming urgent, the Red Cross said.
Other officials said residents were too scared to return even if their houses were not among the 1,000 destroyed because tremors kept striking the zone – more than 50 since Monday’s 8.1-magnitude shock.
“People are in a panic because of the continuous tremors,” said Rex Tara, a disaster management specialist with aid agency Oxfam.
At least 28 people were killed, and authorities were checking on unconfirmed reports of further deaths including six people buried in a quake-triggered landslide on Simbo island, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s office said.
Deputy police commissioner Peter Marshall said that while the death toll may continue to rise, the count so far was “surprisingly low” given the damage.
