The alarm was echoed Wednesday by the Vatican’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, when it reported on a warning from the World Food Program, which is already assisting 330,000 Indonesians. The WFP fears that no fewer than 800,000 people are facing a critical food shortage.
Half of the needy are in the province of Aceh, the hardest hit by the tidal wave.
This week the WFP will begin a shuttle between a cargo ship loaded with provisions and anchored off the west coast of Aceh, and the shoreline.
The Indonesian Health Ministry said that more than 236,000 people died or disappeared in northern Sumatra as a result the tidal wave.
