The death toll from the devastating quake and ensuing tsunami that swamped the northern Indonesian province of Aceh has risen by around 1,500 to 106,523 an official said Wednesday. There are 12,917 people missing and 925 people remain hospitalized said Yuni, an official from the Social Affairs Ministry who, like many people in Indonesia, goes by only one name. More than 694,700 have been made homeless by the devastating tidal waves that swept through coastal regions on the western side of the island of Sumatra, the official said. The Indonesian Military (TNI) announced Wednesday that they would open a military airport for relief work in Sabang on a small island called Weh, just off the northern tip of Aceh province. "We realize that the Iskandar Muda airport (in Banda Aceh) has been too crowded and that this situation might jeopardize the distribution process of aid and donations," military chief General Endriartono Sutarto said in a statement issued by the Indonesian government. "To solve this problem, we will open an airport in Sabang 24 hours a day as an alternative," General Sutarto said in the statement.
