Qa'dah 20, 1431 H/Oct 28, 2010, SPA -- Aid was trickling in Thursday to Indonesia's Mentawai islands three days after a powerful earthquake-triggered tsunami devastated the area leaving over 300 dead, officials said. According to dpa, Bambang Suharjo, an official at the provincial Disaster Management Agency put the official death toll from Monday's 7.7-magnitude earthquake at 311, while 379 people were listed as missing and around 400 were injured. As many as 4,000 villagers were homeless and staying at temporary shelters or had sought refuge on higher ground after the tsunami swept away their houses, he said. Nelis Zuliasri, a spokeswoman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said aid from Jakarta arrived at around midnight Wednesday. Around 2,400 displaced people in Pagai Selatan district had not received any assistance, she said, due to difficult road access to the area. A shortage of fuel had also prevented vehicles from distributing aid, she added.
