Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Continued Tsunami Coverage; Interview with Bernhard Goonetilleke

Aired January 02, 2005 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On CNN, welcome to this special report from Beruwala in Southern Sri Lanka. I'm Hugh Riminton reporting to you from the tsunami disaster. A special report live from the scene.
In this hour, we'll bring you up-to-date with what is happening in the disaster. We'll be talking to our correspondents right across the region region.

The worst hit areas remain Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, particularly Idia's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In those places, the deathtoll still continues to rise. It is not yet been fully measured. We'll be speaking to our correspondents in these areas.

Also, we'll be looking at some areas that have been hard-hit, but perhaps a little overlooked. We'll take a look at those places that have been out of the headlines, but certainly have suffered their full measure.

There's been a wide military response coming in in terms of aid this time. This is military, if you like, for humanitarian purposes, United States is involved increasingly. India is involved, Australia is involved. We'll look at that in this hour.

On a Sunday, how the Christian faith has been coming to terms with this disaster, trying to make sense of it. We'll also look at how the hard-hit areas that have been hit by this disaster, these are places that weren't struck by waves, but have certainly been deeply marked by this tragedy.

This from our correspondents over the next hour.

But we begin in Indonesia, and particularly in the province of Aceh, as is now well-known, the hardest hit area of all. Once again we cross to CNN's Mike Chinoy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is what a town looks like when it has literally wiped off the face of the Earth. I am walking through a place called Lhoknga. Until a week ago, it was a pleasant community of about 3,000 people. It was people who liked to live by the sea, which is just a few hundred pete meters away. But then tsunami came in and wiped out everything in its path. All you can see in any direction as far as you look is devastation. One of the things that was destroyed was the main bridge linking the provincial capital Banda Aceh with the western coast, the area that was worst hit by the tsunami. As a result, land transportation to these very badly-affected areas has been made impossible.

Just on the other side was an Indonesian army base, there were about 270 Indonesian soldiers there with their families, wives and children. 12 of them survived, that's what we are told.

Further down the coast, the devastation is even greater, and we have been told about a town called Chalang that was also completely obliterated. However, a small group of survivors, members of the Indonesian Army Garrison did manage to weather the disaster by running into the hills and mountains. When they returned to Chalang, they found this boat, which had been out at sea during the storm. They managed to repair a radio and alert the Indonesian military here. And on Sunday, they left Chalang and took a trip lasting about 8 hours until they arrived here.

Many of them were badly injured with cuts, bruises, infections, all kinds of physical damage, and it was very clear, you could see as well, a lot of emotional trauma. They said nothing is left of Chalang.

They were met by Indonesian soldiers here and taken to refugee camps to be patched up and cared for.

There is a kind of eerie wind blowing all along this coastal area where we've been most of the day. And sometimes, when the wind really picked up, you can still smell the stench of decaying bodies in the air. Mike Chinoy, CNN, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: In Sri Lanka, the second city Galle was so badly hit by the tsunami disaster it is still in a desperate state at the moment, but the focus has moved from the immediate emergency response to trying to put together the lives of the people who have survived, but have lost so much, and now desperate to get their economy under way, to get their jobs going, try to rebuild physically and emotionally their existence. CNN's Satinder Bindra has been look at that aspect of this disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The focus in Galle at the moment is reconstruction. Many people are trying to block out the pain of the past, they are trying to build a future.

As you can see over my shoulder, these people are trying to reconstruct their damaged store.

This was once one of the most heavily damaged areas of Galle. This is the central bus station. When I first arrived here, several buses, in fact, dozens of them had been upturned. These buses have now been set right. And this bus station is once again operational. In other parts of the city, bridges are being rebuilt. And I've seen several fishermen drag their boats out from under tons of debris. These fishermen saying they're willing to pay 15 to 20 percent interest. They want to borrow money, they want repair their boats. They say they have no option but to go out to sea. They say if they don't go out to sea, they face starvation.

For some, the process of rebuilding their lives is not going to be easy. This morning, I met one person who had lost 8 members of his family. Six of those bodies were recovered, two of those bodies have never been found. This person telling me that it was be at least 20 years before he can rebuild the pieces of his life again.

Also here in Galle a massive relief operation is under way. Sevearl people have now received food and water. And 3 Indian ships have arrived in Galle Harbor. To helicopters, these Indian ships have already delivered 6 tons of food and medicine. The Indians say in the next coming days they'll deliver 20 tons of food supplies.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Galle, Southern Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: So, let's take an overall situation report on how Sri Lanka is holding up after this disaster. We're joined by the Sri Lankan ambassador to the United Nations Bernhard Goonetilleke. Thank you very for joining us, ambassador.

Do you think it is possible at this stage to say that a complete grasp can be achieved of the impact of this disaster on Sri Lanka?

BERNHARD GOONETILLEKE, SRI LANKAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Well, it is possible with the given information, what we have at this point of time. But to get a complete grasp it will take some time. First we will have to attend to the sick, and those who have lost their houses and made into refugees. So, it will take some time before we understand the magnitude of the destruction caused by the tsunami.

RIMINTON: As I understand it, there are still thousands of people who are missing from the rebel-held areas in the northeast of the country there, saying that the death toll there is much higher than was earlier believed to be the case. Is that your understanding of it?

GOONETILLEKE: Well, the death toll, it keeps changing all the time. In the sense, the beginning of the initial -- for example, say on the Monday or Tuesday, we had one figure, and it kept on changing all the time. So even at this point of time, one week after the incident t is difficult for us to tell what exactly the death toll is. It is the same for the north and east as well as for the rest of the country.

RIMINTON: Ambassador, what do you make of the world's response to this disaster, particularly regarding Sri Lanka?

GOONETILLEKE: Well, it is very, very positive, in the sense -- having found that countries in the neighborhood, as well as those who are far away from Sri Lanka. Not only countries, companies, big corporations, and individuals, they all came to the help of Sri Lanka, and we are still receiving the aid. And they are also asking us what more do you require? So we have the support of the international community about which we are very, very grateful.

RIMINTON: Well, if they're asking what more does Sri Lanka require, what more does Sri Lanka require at this stage?

GOONETILLEKE: Well, at this point in time you have to keep in mind the fact that approximately 1 million people have been rendered homeless. And they need food, they need clean water, they have -- they need clothes. They need medical services. So these are the short term needs for 1 million people. And it is difficult for the government to supply all these requirements for the people without the international help.

In the long-term, we will require much more assistance than what we are requiring now. The economy will depend on the, that kind of assistance, what we will be getting. For example, the tourist industry, the fishing industry, both of these industries have been devastated. Infrastructure suchs as road roads, railway, public buildings, hospitals, schools have been destroyed. These have to be rerebuilt.

And people have to be helped for at least six months until such time they're able to regain the independent and economically for them to become viable.

So, initially, for several months we will need assistance to those who have been displaced. Meanwhile, we will have to assess the damage to the infrastructure and see how we can put together an aid package to assist the country to get on its feet economically.

RIMINTON: In about 12 hours from now an advanced party of about 200 U.S. marines is expected to step ashore in Sri Lanka. There will be more to follow. What do you expect from the U.S. military? What can they deliver you?

GOONETILLEKE: Well, it is difficult for me to tell exactly what is required at this point of time. But on the ground, our authorities concerned will know exactly what they will require. First thing is rescue operations, then assistance to those who have been displaced, providing of shelter.

Most importantly, in the form of help assistance. Because with the tsunami, there is stagnation of water. And that has to be looked into because very soon in a couple of days' time you will have a situation where there will be diseases, water-borne as well as other, like mosquito-borne diseases spreading. And we don't want to have a situation where those who have been rescued and those who have become refugees, eventually ending up with various kinds of sickness falling sick as a result of these diseases.

RIMINTON: OK. Ambassador Goonetilleke, thank you very much for taking the time to join us. GOONETILLEKE: Thank you very much, indeed.

RIMINTON: Now just to the Southwest of Sri Lanka, the Maldive Islands have been struck. They are scattered. Romantic in many ways, romantic scattering of islands across the western Indian Ocean. Their average altitude is just 2.4 meters above sea level.

So, when these waves came through, they really did cause enormous amounts of damage for a lowly populated island chain. The loss of life, 67 dead, needs to be borne against those other figures from far more populated parts of the world.

Now in the capital Mali, 2/3 has been flooded, or was flooded by the tsunami. Even now the capital's airport can only be open in daylight hours. There are a number of islands from which there has been no word. So the assessment of the damage continues.

The cost of rebuilding has been put by the government of the Maldives at greater than the annual GDP of the islands, which gives some idea of the scale there.

Meanwhile in Thailand, the rebuilding has got to wait first of all for the clearing of all of the debris. All of these countries have been bringing in earth moving equipment whenever they can.

In Thailand of course, the traditional earthmoving equipment is the elephant. And elephants, indeed, have been doing their work, particularly on Khoa Lak in the Southern Thailand tourism area, which was so heavily devested, elephants are helping to clear away some of that debris.

In that part of the country, in other parts of Thailand, the Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been touring around, having a look for himself at the devastation to both the mainland areas and also to the Egeland group, to the tourist group, tourist areas.

Now a little earlier, CNN's Aneesh Raman had an exclusive interview with the Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THAKSIN SHINAWATRA, THAI PRIME MINISTER: One thing that we have seen that many united force between the private sector, public sector and the government and also international, it's very strongly in this area. We are helping each other in almost everything.

And in this area, it's quite surprised me that it's come back to the normal activity, it's quite fast. But anyway, we will have to do the landscape in better a shape. And also, we will have to take care of those who are still missing.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A large number of missing are foreign tourists. What can you say about the missing? Are they presumed dead? Do you think you'll find some alive?

SHINAWATRA: There are some duplicate in the information. For example, Phuket, we examined the names of the missing and they may involve those who are treated in hospitals. There are some replicated. So we delete -- we cleaned the file.

After we cleaned the file, we found that only one-third are still missing. So that is more realistic. And also we probably, it's probably the same case like in Panga (ph) and Kaebee (ph).

RAMAN: What are the greatest difficulties for the relief efforts now?

SHINAWATRA: Due to the incident passed, about 7 days over. And the corpse is quite rotten, that is the difficulty in identifying who they are, that's the part. But anyway, luckily that we have forensic experts from different countries to help to us identify, including the Interpol.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Now, when we return here on CNN, we're going to be looking at the slowness of aid getting into Aceh, all of the problems there as the infrastructure is overwhelmed. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was overwhelming. I've got 20 years of aviation. I've picked everyone up from downed aviators to stranded mariners, never before had I experienced anything as overwhelming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIMINTON: Now the Indonesian island of Sumatra was the closest major land mass to the epicenter of the quake that sparked the tsunami. It has taken a terrible loss of life. It remains in a state of near chaos.

CNN's Atika Shubert has been reporting for us from Medan in Aceh Province, on all the difficulties in getting aid now to those most affected -- Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Hugh. And Medan, is actually the coordination center for all of the relief efforts coming into Aceh. And everywhere you turn here, it seems you see aid workers, government officials, military officials, everybody seems to be geared to helping Aceh recover and helping those survivors, including getting all the food, medicine and clean water they need.

But what we found and even though it's coming here to Medan and even reaching the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, it's still quite slow getting out to other areas. It seems that actualy getting it to survivors is proving to be a logistical problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT (voice-over): Relief supplies are flooding into Aceh, but not fast enough. The infrastructure is simply overwhelmed.

With only two small airports to service the area, the skies are literally blocked with traffic from relief flights. Insufficient loading and refueling equipment also means the turnaround time for these needed supplies is painstakingly slow.

(on camera): This is the main warehouse for relief supplies into Aceh. Mountains of food, water and medical supplies. But getting it to survivors can be a logistical nightmare.

(voice-over): French aid group Firefighter Without Borders has been trying to send a rescue medical team to the devastated west coast of Aceh, an area inaccessible by road.

They're all packed, ready to go, but they've been scrambling for almost two days to find transportation.

(UNKNOWN): Yes, but I'm sure we'll make it today.

I think you have to say after one bottleneck, there's another one. So I should not stop at one. It will end up some time.

SHUBERT: That's why support like the U.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier group is so badly needed. It is a floating rescue mission, with 6,000 crew, a hospital and, most important, a fleet of helicopters that can reach even the most inaccessible parts of Aceh.

(UNKNOWN): It's wonderful because they don't have to park at these airports any longer than to pick up the supplies they need and to move them to the affected areas. So that's been a great asset for us to have those lily pads, if you will, in the water.

SHUBERT: Helicopter missions like this will keep survivors alive for now. But unblocking the logistical bottlenecks on the ground takes time, time many survivors don't have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: Hugh, even at the best of times, the region of Aceh was very difficult to get to. So you can imagine what it was like when the earthquake and tsunami hit, wiping out a lot of that infrastructure, in particular, roads, bridges are down, roads are cracked open. And it makes it almost impossible for trucks and other vehicles to get by, particularly to that very hard-hit west coast.

So in addition to the air problem, Aceh is also suffering from problems on the ground. And it's going to take some time before heavy equipment can be moved in, start repairing some of those roads. hin the meantime, really Aceh is relying on these helicopters to get by.

RIMINTON: Atika, has a complete survey now been made of the coastline there of Sumatra, particularly Aceh, so that we can be certain there are mo more nasty surprises to be found in terms of death toll?

SHUBERT: Well certainly. There's been plenty of flights over that area. But actually being able to access all of the areas on the west coast can be very difficult. A lot of these helicopters, they fly in, they touch down for really just a short time, put out the food or the medicine, whatever is needed there, and fly off. We don't know that we're able to reach all of the survivors there.

A lot of times, you're only hoping that you can, that these helicopters are able to get in there and reach everybody. But of course, it's no guarantee.

One of the groups we talked today, Firefighters Without Borders, that was one of their main things, they wanted to get into the west coast of Aceh, set up a medical unit so that survivors could come to them with their injuries and get treated. But without setting up a unit like that there, the survivors have no other option.

So, it is a desparate situation, but having said that, aid workers say they do see these kinks are coming loose now. The bottlenecks are opening up. It just takes time, Unfortunately that's the one thing survivors don't have.

RIMINTON: Atika Shubert there in Medan, thank you very much for joining us.

And perhaps time now to remind you of our Web site, CNN.com/tsunami. This is a site at which you can, if you want to, if you need to, post messages, if you're looking for loved ones or friends who are still missing.

You can also see links there to aid organizations if you want to contribute yourself in any way. There's a full list of those involved in the area. It's your pick. You decide those ways in which you want to help most.

There's a message board for people, both searching, people who have actually gotten out safe so they can reassure other loved ones that they are OK.

So at any stage you want to get an update of information or any other purposes CNN.com/tsunami.

Now, when we return from the break, the terrible stories of some of those tourists survivors as they return home to their normal lives. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIMINTON: Welcome back. We're coming to you live from with the latest on the tsunami disaster.

Now, across the world, this being a Sunday, there have been church services as people go to pray for those who are missing, pray for families who have lost loved ones in England. In Gloucester cathedral, there was a prayer service today. England has lost and still has many people missing, particularly from the tourist areas of Thailand. And of course, this is an international -- it is a global tragedy. The prayers being offered for those who are suffering at this stage right across the world.

And in Delhi in India, there were also services today. India, of course, has been enormously hard-hit, both in the southeast of the country, particularly Tamil Nadu Province and also in India's Islands, the Andaman and Nicobar chain. Plenty to pray about. So much comfort that will needed to be dispensed for so long to so many people out of this disaster.

Well, tourists have been returning home, those survivors from terrible places with terrible experiences of loss and their own survival in many cases is a matter of deep trauma. Gary Cotrell went to London's Heathrow airport to meet with some of those returning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY COTRELL, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Home from the horror, but not free from it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went under so many times, I can't believe I came back up.

COTRELL: Amanda Simons is in a wheelchair as a result of her ordeal but her wounds are more than just physical. She's one of the few to escape from Khao Lak, Thailand's worst affected beach where more than 2,000 holiday makers died. Her hotel collapsed under the force of the wave.

AMANDA SIMONS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: And the current just took me out. And I got trapped between some concrete and wood on my head and this Thai man, he saved me, pulled me out, but then I saw him body washed up.

COTRELL: Amanda feels guilty about her rescuers death and sorry she count do more to help others.

SIMONS; There was a girl who I can't find, her name is Matilda, and she was from Argentina, and we were in the sea together, and when it went under, she said, take my hand. And I said, no I can't, because I know you can't hold on to someone, you've got to be strong and be on your own. And I didn't take her hand. When the next wave came, she didn't come back up.

COTRELL: Amanda's boyfriend is angry. He says British officials in Thailand left them stranded without food, money or documents.

DARYL PHILLIPS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: Every other country has come all the way through, even people not even injured first class seats home, free. We had nothing. They told us we were on our own.

COTRELL: Many homecoming Britons are struggling to see with the things they've seen and experienced. Amanda Simons is no exception.

SIMONS: Someone up there didn't want me to go today. And I made it. But it's not fair all of the people that didn't make it.

COTRELL: Gary Cotrell, ITV news. (END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Now when we return, a fishing fleet high and dry, needing to overcome both its fears and all the damage in order to get back out to sea.

And Stan Grant reports from the savagely hit rebel-held north of Sri Lanka.

That's when we return. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIMINTON: Welcome back to Sri Lanka and across Sri Lanka today, there have also been prayers being offered up a number of services in tiny churches, many of them badly damaged but also in the larger centers as well. Christian services on the Sunday. And with some of the other parts of the world, the things have been the same really, trying to offer comfort to those who are grieving, those who have lost loved ones, those still missing out there somewhere and perhaps unidentified, in most cases now I think most people starting to realize that there are people who are missing who are not going to come hope.

There are also Buddhist ceremonies across Sri Lanka today. Buddhism is the predominant religion here as it is in Thailand, and they were also offering up their prayers and condolences to the people suffering at this time.

On the ground offering his own condolences and also making his own assessment of conditions, Sri Lanka's prime minister has been on a road trip of his own, traveling down the western coast from Colombo, visiting Galle, the old Portuguese City settled by the Portuguese 500 years ago. So severely damaged. The prime minister of Hindra Rajapaksa walking around and assessing for himself the extraordinary amount of damage to his country, that has gutted his country, that has left 5 percent of countries population tonight still without homes to sleep in.

They are totally displaced. Mr. Rajapaksa also visited the little fishing town of Barawala, that is where I'm standing at the moment. He came through here briefly, had a look around and spoke to some people and then proceeded down south to see the conditions in Galle. The further south you go the worse things become.

Now this fishing town goes out, they collect tuna from the deep waters and they sell it around the world. Some of the tuna that people get anywhere in the world may well have come from this little town. The fishing fleet is going nowhere just at the moment. They've suffered severe damage from the tsunami. I spoke a little earlier on today with the manager of the port here in Beruwala.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than 500 boats, we have only 220 boats in my harbor but I know more than 500 boats were there. RIMINTON: So about one in three, one out of every three of your boats here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

RIMINTON: Has been lost?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

RIMINTON: Are they insured? I mean can you get money back from insurance?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they are not insured, because they are all going to the deep sea. They can't be insured.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Now in the north of Sri Lanka, in the Tamil held, the rebel-held areas of this country, there is an enormous death toll still being counted and aid is a great difficulty. There seem to be in many ways some levels behind the rest of Sri Lanka in terms of recovery of bodies, assessing the damage, getting aid and infrastructure under way. For an update on the north of Sri Lanka we're joined by CNN's Stan Grant. Stan, have things improved at all in the last 24 hours?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about aid. Over the -- I've seen more trucks coming along the road here and heading up some of the refugee camps, more trucks being unloaded. I'm actually here at the moment at the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization. Now this is an arm of the Tamil Tigers, of course the rebels Tamil Tigers who hold this part of northern Sri Lanka, but there is a problem here. When you come into this part of Sri Lanka, you have to leave the south, you have to go through a border crossing and to a Tamil checkpoint.

At nightfall that closes and that means that no more trucks can actually through. We are here at the moment, they are unpacking the goods I have but no more trucks have to come there through because you have to enter the Defacto state, that is causing problems for the relief, of course for those who have been so afflicted by these devastating tsunamis.

RIMINTON (voice over): A TV camera will almost always bring a smile to a child's face, even here, among children whose eyes have seen more suffering than any child's should. They are huddled here together in a makeshift refugee camp, 1,000 people here, all escaped the tsunami that flattened their town of Malativu in Sri Lanka's north. They need the essentials of life -- clean water, food and clothing. None of it can come quickly enough. Across the whole Tamil Tiger rebel stronghold of the north and east, there are nearly 7000,000 people homeless and struggling to survive. The Tamil Tigris and relief groups say the death toll is nearly 20,000. The number of missing another 20,000. The death toll, they say, is expected to raise to at least 40,000 in the coming days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the problem. In front of the eyes, lost in front of your eyes.

RIMINTON: Everywhere, there are reminders of death. The bodies of the dead cremated. Here we come across a mass grave each dirt mound another tsunami victim. There are hundreds here alone.

RIMINTON (on camera): These are not just mass graves. They're reminders of the living, because every one of the hundreds of people who are buried here lived, and then died so suddenly in that tsunami. And they've all left someone behind to deal with the grief. Tamil political leaders say first, two decades of civil war, now this, has shattered these people.

S. P. TAMILWELYAN,(Translator): These people were just about to reestablish themselves and especially the population that was living along the coastline, mostly fishing population and they have lost almost everything that can be called anything for a lively hood.

RIMINTON: But life is about the little things. Even here with all lost, kids still play like kids. And men still deal their cards, and gamble on fate. Now,

GRANT: Now Hugh as I was saying nightfall here that, means the border closes and no more aid relief can come across and into these badly-affected areas. However, there was an improvement throughout the day. Obviously more boxes coming in, more things being unloaded, and just as an indication, we talk a lot about aid relief and what the people actually need on the ground. I've got with me here a fairly good example of what's in an average aid pack.

If I go through it, some clothing here, as you can see, there are some food stuffs and some powdered milk, which of course is very much needed, especially by the children. Of course, rice, very much a part of the staple diet. There are candles in there, there are matches and so on. These are the things that people need, just to get by, the essentials they need to get by in the coming days. There's been a bit of a concern, particularly amongst the Tamil and places spread throughout the rest of the world, they are donating their money, donating their food but concern of it actually getting here.

I can say that yes it is getting through. But as I pointed out a somewhat crazy situation here when the border closes, so does the aid relief. It simply stops coming through. Hugh.

RIMINTON: Stan, thank you very much for joining us, and I can say, there's one thing the seems crazier than a border that stops aid to people who desperately need it, it is a sight that you'll see around Sri Lanka and around Thailand and other places of tourists still going about their business, they are walking on beaches, they are going for swims in some of the hotels that are still around, making a fine show of enjoying themselves while of course, close around them people suffering in these appalling conditions.

Now it seems on the face of it bizarre behavior, almost insensitive behavior, and yet, in most of these countries, they're saying that's exactly what they want tourists to do. They don't want them to go away. They want them to enjoy themselves and they want them to return to these countries both in Sri Lanka and also in Thailand. CNN's Aneesh Raman says that that is exactly what he found as he went for a wander through the Thai resort island of Phuket.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN (on camera): It has been more than a week since the devastating waves devoured the coastline here in Phuket. This is one of the hardest hit areas, and you can see that the debris still remains. They've yet to really clean it up. In other places such as Phiphi Island, on the coastal area of Khaolak (ph), they're only now beginning to get to the hardest hit areas, getting relief to those people. And as they clean this debris they're finding more and more bodies. Thousands of people remain missing, a good number of which are foreign tourists.

But amidst this debris and among these casualties it is a stark and contrasting image. This, and then there's this, visitors returning to the island of Phuket now, one week later. It is an economic imperative for this industry to be rebuilt and rebuilt quickly. Phiphi Island is gone. The coastal area of Khaolak (ph) is devastated. The only area that is in some semble and standing is Phuket Island. Hotel owners we spoke to said if they are to salvage the season and keep an essential industry going for this country, they need visitors to come back and come back quickly.

So for them, these are the images that are essential to them continuing, the thousands of lively hoods that depend on this industry. It is a though and akward and surreal transition. Bodies remain unfound, debris still litters this island, yet people are coming back. This is the hope, this situation will begin to stabilize and move forward. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Phuket, southern Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Quite extraordinary. When we return on this special report, coming to you live from Sri Lanka, rebuilding an orphanage with help from around the world. Stay with us on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIMINTON: Welcome back, coming to you live from Sri Lanka. As we have been finding during the course of this last week, there are really two stories involved here, one this unprecedented disaster. The other story has been an unprecedented outpouring across the world of people wanting to help in all kinds of ways, governmentally, $2 billion the U.N. says, has been pledged in aid, this is from governments and major international organizations like the World Bank. There's also been all of this aid and help that has been offered by individuals.

In an orphanage in Sri Lanka that has been wiped away. Heaven knows there have been enough extra orphans added over the course of this last week. But in this particular orphanage, it was wiped away, they seem to have lost everything just when it was needed most, until people started coming to the rescue. This report from CNN's Jeanne Meserve. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEANNA SANDERS: Dear Mrs. Sanders, we wish you and your family many prayers throughout this tragedy.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The mail has brought Deanna Sanders condolences and checks.

DIVANA SANDERS: This is a check for $100, for $800, $500, $250.

MESERVE: In one day, a total of $7,400, to rebuild the orphanage Divana's brother Daylon Sanders established on a sliver of seaside in Sri Lanka in 1994.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's just 10 years old and been with us just a couple of months.

MESERVE: Daylon left a comfortable life in the U.S., selling his home to finance the building of the orphanage and help the children in his native country.

SAMALAN (ph) SANDERS: Since he was a little boy, he was a very caring person. He would collect money in a little purse and give it away to beggars.

MESERVE: Twenty eight children found a home at the orphanage until last Sunday.

DAYLAN SANDERS, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, SAMARITAN CHILDRENS HOME: There are no words in human speech to describe what we saw. It was a 30-foot wall of sea just bearing down on us, like an angry monster.

MESERVE: Daylan crammed the orphans and his family into one small boat, which uncharacteristically started on the first try.

DIVANA SANDERS: The boat capacity was only 15 people. They were like 30 to 33 people crammed in there, trying to get across the lagoon to the city, and there were all dead bodies in this lagoon and people holding onto rafters and branches and screaming to them and asking them to help them.

MESERVE: Daylon and the children survived. The orphanage did not.

KANYA SANDERS: It's been incomprehensible, and just you know mind blowing, but you know, we are so, so thankful and grateful to god, you know that, they were saved so miraculously.

MESERVE: Daylon's family and friends in Maryland immediately set about raising the estimated $400,000 it will take to rebuild the orphanage. Two newspaper stories have generated a torrent of calls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Samaritan home relief. How can I help you?

MESERVE: And contributions. DIVANA SANDERSL Wow! $1,500. Amazing. "My sympathy to you and your fellow countrymen from Sri Lanka. I hope this gift will help towards rebuilding the orphanage."

MESERVE: An orphanage that Sri Lanka needs now, more than ever before. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Of course, this disaster may well be the biggest challenge in history for the world's aid agencies with a large or small. We're joined by the emergency director for C.A.R.E., Ahuma Adodoadji. Can you tell us Mr. Andrudwadji what is your response to the response of people around the world for this diseaster? What do you think of it?

AHUMA ADODOADJI, EMERGENCY DIR, CARE USA: C.A.R.E. has mobilized its infrastructure in the area as soon as it happened, because we've been in the countries for decades. We already had nationals on the ground in Sri Lanka within a very short time. We had C.A.R.E. mobilized to help move people to safe ground, and as I speak, CARE has distributed relief supplies to over 35,000 people. In India, CARE has set up a base of operations in Chinai and is actively involved with water purification and helping to move basic essential supplies to people in the affected areas. One of the things we want to stress is that the response should not just be on the short term, but we should begin to look at recovery, and the long-term rebuilding of the communities affected.

CARE is also very actively putting together a team in Indonesia. As I speak, we have colleagues on the ground and we've already put in place the facilities to distribute water distribution facilities which will impact up to 1 million people in the area, and by Wednesday, we should have our team fairly on the ground, ready to move forward.

RIMINTON: Now n the past, it's been a problem where very often, people have been stirred to act over disasters of one kind or another famines or so on, but then quite quickly the focus shifts elsewhere and things do get forgotten. How are you going to keep this a long- term focus in people's minds?

ADODADJI: I think in all of our communications, with very many generals, partners and supporters across the globe, we are stressing that we are in for the long haul. CARE is one of the agencies which tends to go in for the long haul. We do not just go in and pull out quickly, and we are stressing that this is a major catastrophe, that after the CNN and other cameras have gone, there needs to be an even greater, and we are encouraging our partners to provide resources to support that effort and so far, the response has been very encouraging.

RIMINTON: Ahuma Adodoadji from CARE thank you very much for joining us.

ADODADJI: You're welcome Hugh. Thank you. RIMINTON: Coming up next, we're going to have another one of those extraordinary survival stories. It's that Sri Lankan train that was wiped off the tracks by the wave. It was believed all 1,000 people on board died. A handful of them survived. We'll speak to one of them. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIMINTON: Welcome back to Sri Lanka. If you drive down the Sri Lankan west coast, before you get too far, you come across a railway line that has been completely wiped away. You see the wreckage of a train, up to 15 carriages totally driven into the jungle. It's hard to believe that more than 1,000 people killed there. A senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta met one of the very few survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the coastal southern Sri Lankan town these gentle waves don't give any indication of the devastation they could wreak. When the tsunami came it now only swept swimmers and boats out to deep sea but half a kilometer inland it swept a train right off its tracks, throwing the cars around as if they were toys. Ciandela Gijmasera (ph) a school teacher and her daughter were returning home that day and it almost made it when the train suddenly screeched to a halt. They weren't alarmed at first, thinking it was a villager stepping on the tracks to commit suicide. A disturbingly common event in this deprived area of Sri Lanka, but then she looked to her right.

CHANDELA GIJMASERA (ph) (Translator): I started shouting, oh, my god, and grabbed my daughter."

GUPTA: She was staring right into the first wave of the tsunami.

GIJMASERA (ph) (Translator): The water was rising incredibly fast and very quickly, it rose to the train bar. Our heads floated to the top of the train box. It all happened in less than two minutes. I kept thinking, what can I do.

GUPTA: At the time she thought only of her daughter.

GIJMASERA (ph) (translator): I put my daughter on top of the luggage rack inside of the train.

GUPTA (on camera): When the second wave hit her train was tossed through the air, and that was the last thing she remembers. When they say it seems like a bomb went off, this is what they're talking about, a square kilometer of utter devastation, creating an instant burial ground for more than 500 people. Today, about a week after the tsunami hit, 24 more bodies have been recovered.

GUPTA (voice over): Somehow Ciranka (ph) and her daughter were untouched, with only a few scrapes. They escaped through a window. They were the only ones in their entire train car to survive. The tsunami stripped this entire area of life, and of hope. This victim died so suddenly, the hand still holds the handkerchief. Reminders of children lost, the most painful to see, a child's shoe, a baby's picture, a grade schooler's book, and a young boy's bike. As the Sri Lankan air force raise bodies from the rubble, hundreds stare in stunned silence. Among the dead were those who lived in near by homes crushed not only by the waves but also by a train hurdling through the air.

It will take an impossibly long time to clean up but eventually this area may return to some sense of what it was. At the same time, Chandrik (ph) and her daughter have already begun to piece back their own lives. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: And we've learned of another survivor whose story if anything, when she gets to tell it is even more remarkable. A 4-year- old girl was on that train, she is the only survivor of her entire family. They thought she was herself, dead. She was taken with so many other bodies into a morgue. Her name is Damani Samantika. The way she was in the morgue they were preparing her to be buried with others and realized that she was alive. She is reunited with her grandfather.

Well CNN's correspondents continue to cover this extraordinary story around the region in Asia. Stay with us. We're staying with the story. I'm Hugh Riminton on the beach in Sri Lanka coming to you live. The news continues on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired January 2, 2005 - 16:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On CNN, welcome to this special report from Beruwala in Southern Sri Lanka. I'm Hugh Riminton reporting to you from the tsunami disaster. A special report live from the scene.
In this hour, we'll bring you up-to-date with what is happening in the disaster. We'll be talking to our correspondents right across the region region.

The worst hit areas remain Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, particularly Idia's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In those places, the deathtoll still continues to rise. It is not yet been fully measured. We'll be speaking to our correspondents in these areas.

Also, we'll be looking at some areas that have been hard-hit, but perhaps a little overlooked. We'll take a look at those places that have been out of the headlines, but certainly have suffered their full measure.

There's been a wide military response coming in in terms of aid this time. This is military, if you like, for humanitarian purposes, United States is involved increasingly. India is involved, Australia is involved. We'll look at that in this hour.

On a Sunday, how the Christian faith has been coming to terms with this disaster, trying to make sense of it. We'll also look at how the hard-hit areas that have been hit by this disaster, these are places that weren't struck by waves, but have certainly been deeply marked by this tragedy.

This from our correspondents over the next hour.

But we begin in Indonesia, and particularly in the province of Aceh, as is now well-known, the hardest hit area of all. Once again we cross to CNN's Mike Chinoy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is what a town looks like when it has literally wiped off the face of the Earth. I am walking through a place called Lhoknga. Until a week ago, it was a pleasant community of about 3,000 people. It was people who liked to live by the sea, which is just a few hundred pete meters away. But then tsunami came in and wiped out everything in its path. All you can see in any direction as far as you look is devastation. One of the things that was destroyed was the main bridge linking the provincial capital Banda Aceh with the western coast, the area that was worst hit by the tsunami. As a result, land transportation to these very badly-affected areas has been made impossible.

Just on the other side was an Indonesian army base, there were about 270 Indonesian soldiers there with their families, wives and children. 12 of them survived, that's what we are told.

Further down the coast, the devastation is even greater, and we have been told about a town called Chalang that was also completely obliterated. However, a small group of survivors, members of the Indonesian Army Garrison did manage to weather the disaster by running into the hills and mountains. When they returned to Chalang, they found this boat, which had been out at sea during the storm. They managed to repair a radio and alert the Indonesian military here. And on Sunday, they left Chalang and took a trip lasting about 8 hours until they arrived here.

Many of them were badly injured with cuts, bruises, infections, all kinds of physical damage, and it was very clear, you could see as well, a lot of emotional trauma. They said nothing is left of Chalang.

They were met by Indonesian soldiers here and taken to refugee camps to be patched up and cared for.

There is a kind of eerie wind blowing all along this coastal area where we've been most of the day. And sometimes, when the wind really picked up, you can still smell the stench of decaying bodies in the air. Mike Chinoy, CNN, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: In Sri Lanka, the second city Galle was so badly hit by the tsunami disaster it is still in a desperate state at the moment, but the focus has moved from the immediate emergency response to trying to put together the lives of the people who have survived, but have lost so much, and now desperate to get their economy under way, to get their jobs going, try to rebuild physically and emotionally their existence. CNN's Satinder Bindra has been look at that aspect of this disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The focus in Galle at the moment is reconstruction. Many people are trying to block out the pain of the past, they are trying to build a future.

As you can see over my shoulder, these people are trying to reconstruct their damaged store.

This was once one of the most heavily damaged areas of Galle. This is the central bus station. When I first arrived here, several buses, in fact, dozens of them had been upturned. These buses have now been set right. And this bus station is once again operational. In other parts of the city, bridges are being rebuilt. And I've seen several fishermen drag their boats out from under tons of debris. These fishermen saying they're willing to pay 15 to 20 percent interest. They want to borrow money, they want repair their boats. They say they have no option but to go out to sea. They say if they don't go out to sea, they face starvation.

For some, the process of rebuilding their lives is not going to be easy. This morning, I met one person who had lost 8 members of his family. Six of those bodies were recovered, two of those bodies have never been found. This person telling me that it was be at least 20 years before he can rebuild the pieces of his life again.

Also here in Galle a massive relief operation is under way. Sevearl people have now received food and water. And 3 Indian ships have arrived in Galle Harbor. To helicopters, these Indian ships have already delivered 6 tons of food and medicine. The Indians say in the next coming days they'll deliver 20 tons of food supplies.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Galle, Southern Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: So, let's take an overall situation report on how Sri Lanka is holding up after this disaster. We're joined by the Sri Lankan ambassador to the United Nations Bernhard Goonetilleke. Thank you very for joining us, ambassador.

Do you think it is possible at this stage to say that a complete grasp can be achieved of the impact of this disaster on Sri Lanka?

BERNHARD GOONETILLEKE, SRI LANKAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Well, it is possible with the given information, what we have at this point of time. But to get a complete grasp it will take some time. First we will have to attend to the sick, and those who have lost their houses and made into refugees. So, it will take some time before we understand the magnitude of the destruction caused by the tsunami.

RIMINTON: As I understand it, there are still thousands of people who are missing from the rebel-held areas in the northeast of the country there, saying that the death toll there is much higher than was earlier believed to be the case. Is that your understanding of it?

GOONETILLEKE: Well, the death toll, it keeps changing all the time. In the sense, the beginning of the initial -- for example, say on the Monday or Tuesday, we had one figure, and it kept on changing all the time. So even at this point of time, one week after the incident t is difficult for us to tell what exactly the death toll is. It is the same for the north and east as well as for the rest of the country.

RIMINTON: Ambassador, what do you make of the world's response to this disaster, particularly regarding Sri Lanka?

GOONETILLEKE: Well, it is very, very positive, in the sense -- having found that countries in the neighborhood, as well as those who are far away from Sri Lanka. Not only countries, companies, big corporations, and individuals, they all came to the help of Sri Lanka, and we are still receiving the aid. And they are also asking us what more do you require? So we have the support of the international community about which we are very, very grateful.

RIMINTON: Well, if they're asking what more does Sri Lanka require, what more does Sri Lanka require at this stage?

GOONETILLEKE: Well, at this point in time you have to keep in mind the fact that approximately 1 million people have been rendered homeless. And they need food, they need clean water, they have -- they need clothes. They need medical services. So these are the short term needs for 1 million people. And it is difficult for the government to supply all these requirements for the people without the international help.

In the long-term, we will require much more assistance than what we are requiring now. The economy will depend on the, that kind of assistance, what we will be getting. For example, the tourist industry, the fishing industry, both of these industries have been devastated. Infrastructure suchs as road roads, railway, public buildings, hospitals, schools have been destroyed. These have to be rerebuilt.

And people have to be helped for at least six months until such time they're able to regain the independent and economically for them to become viable.

So, initially, for several months we will need assistance to those who have been displaced. Meanwhile, we will have to assess the damage to the infrastructure and see how we can put together an aid package to assist the country to get on its feet economically.

RIMINTON: In about 12 hours from now an advanced party of about 200 U.S. marines is expected to step ashore in Sri Lanka. There will be more to follow. What do you expect from the U.S. military? What can they deliver you?

GOONETILLEKE: Well, it is difficult for me to tell exactly what is required at this point of time. But on the ground, our authorities concerned will know exactly what they will require. First thing is rescue operations, then assistance to those who have been displaced, providing of shelter.

Most importantly, in the form of help assistance. Because with the tsunami, there is stagnation of water. And that has to be looked into because very soon in a couple of days' time you will have a situation where there will be diseases, water-borne as well as other, like mosquito-borne diseases spreading. And we don't want to have a situation where those who have been rescued and those who have become refugees, eventually ending up with various kinds of sickness falling sick as a result of these diseases.

RIMINTON: OK. Ambassador Goonetilleke, thank you very much for taking the time to join us. GOONETILLEKE: Thank you very much, indeed.

RIMINTON: Now just to the Southwest of Sri Lanka, the Maldive Islands have been struck. They are scattered. Romantic in many ways, romantic scattering of islands across the western Indian Ocean. Their average altitude is just 2.4 meters above sea level.

So, when these waves came through, they really did cause enormous amounts of damage for a lowly populated island chain. The loss of life, 67 dead, needs to be borne against those other figures from far more populated parts of the world.

Now in the capital Mali, 2/3 has been flooded, or was flooded by the tsunami. Even now the capital's airport can only be open in daylight hours. There are a number of islands from which there has been no word. So the assessment of the damage continues.

The cost of rebuilding has been put by the government of the Maldives at greater than the annual GDP of the islands, which gives some idea of the scale there.

Meanwhile in Thailand, the rebuilding has got to wait first of all for the clearing of all of the debris. All of these countries have been bringing in earth moving equipment whenever they can.

In Thailand of course, the traditional earthmoving equipment is the elephant. And elephants, indeed, have been doing their work, particularly on Khoa Lak in the Southern Thailand tourism area, which was so heavily devested, elephants are helping to clear away some of that debris.

In that part of the country, in other parts of Thailand, the Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been touring around, having a look for himself at the devastation to both the mainland areas and also to the Egeland group, to the tourist group, tourist areas.

Now a little earlier, CNN's Aneesh Raman had an exclusive interview with the Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THAKSIN SHINAWATRA, THAI PRIME MINISTER: One thing that we have seen that many united force between the private sector, public sector and the government and also international, it's very strongly in this area. We are helping each other in almost everything.

And in this area, it's quite surprised me that it's come back to the normal activity, it's quite fast. But anyway, we will have to do the landscape in better a shape. And also, we will have to take care of those who are still missing.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A large number of missing are foreign tourists. What can you say about the missing? Are they presumed dead? Do you think you'll find some alive?

SHINAWATRA: There are some duplicate in the information. For example, Phuket, we examined the names of the missing and they may involve those who are treated in hospitals. There are some replicated. So we delete -- we cleaned the file.

After we cleaned the file, we found that only one-third are still missing. So that is more realistic. And also we probably, it's probably the same case like in Panga (ph) and Kaebee (ph).

RAMAN: What are the greatest difficulties for the relief efforts now?

SHINAWATRA: Due to the incident passed, about 7 days over. And the corpse is quite rotten, that is the difficulty in identifying who they are, that's the part. But anyway, luckily that we have forensic experts from different countries to help to us identify, including the Interpol.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Now, when we return here on CNN, we're going to be looking at the slowness of aid getting into Aceh, all of the problems there as the infrastructure is overwhelmed. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was overwhelming. I've got 20 years of aviation. I've picked everyone up from downed aviators to stranded mariners, never before had I experienced anything as overwhelming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIMINTON: Now the Indonesian island of Sumatra was the closest major land mass to the epicenter of the quake that sparked the tsunami. It has taken a terrible loss of life. It remains in a state of near chaos.

CNN's Atika Shubert has been reporting for us from Medan in Aceh Province, on all the difficulties in getting aid now to those most affected -- Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Hugh. And Medan, is actually the coordination center for all of the relief efforts coming into Aceh. And everywhere you turn here, it seems you see aid workers, government officials, military officials, everybody seems to be geared to helping Aceh recover and helping those survivors, including getting all the food, medicine and clean water they need.

But what we found and even though it's coming here to Medan and even reaching the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, it's still quite slow getting out to other areas. It seems that actualy getting it to survivors is proving to be a logistical problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT (voice-over): Relief supplies are flooding into Aceh, but not fast enough. The infrastructure is simply overwhelmed.

With only two small airports to service the area, the skies are literally blocked with traffic from relief flights. Insufficient loading and refueling equipment also means the turnaround time for these needed supplies is painstakingly slow.

(on camera): This is the main warehouse for relief supplies into Aceh. Mountains of food, water and medical supplies. But getting it to survivors can be a logistical nightmare.

(voice-over): French aid group Firefighter Without Borders has been trying to send a rescue medical team to the devastated west coast of Aceh, an area inaccessible by road.

They're all packed, ready to go, but they've been scrambling for almost two days to find transportation.

(UNKNOWN): Yes, but I'm sure we'll make it today.

I think you have to say after one bottleneck, there's another one. So I should not stop at one. It will end up some time.

SHUBERT: That's why support like the U.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier group is so badly needed. It is a floating rescue mission, with 6,000 crew, a hospital and, most important, a fleet of helicopters that can reach even the most inaccessible parts of Aceh.

(UNKNOWN): It's wonderful because they don't have to park at these airports any longer than to pick up the supplies they need and to move them to the affected areas. So that's been a great asset for us to have those lily pads, if you will, in the water.

SHUBERT: Helicopter missions like this will keep survivors alive for now. But unblocking the logistical bottlenecks on the ground takes time, time many survivors don't have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: Hugh, even at the best of times, the region of Aceh was very difficult to get to. So you can imagine what it was like when the earthquake and tsunami hit, wiping out a lot of that infrastructure, in particular, roads, bridges are down, roads are cracked open. And it makes it almost impossible for trucks and other vehicles to get by, particularly to that very hard-hit west coast.

So in addition to the air problem, Aceh is also suffering from problems on the ground. And it's going to take some time before heavy equipment can be moved in, start repairing some of those roads. hin the meantime, really Aceh is relying on these helicopters to get by.

RIMINTON: Atika, has a complete survey now been made of the coastline there of Sumatra, particularly Aceh, so that we can be certain there are mo more nasty surprises to be found in terms of death toll?

SHUBERT: Well certainly. There's been plenty of flights over that area. But actually being able to access all of the areas on the west coast can be very difficult. A lot of these helicopters, they fly in, they touch down for really just a short time, put out the food or the medicine, whatever is needed there, and fly off. We don't know that we're able to reach all of the survivors there.

A lot of times, you're only hoping that you can, that these helicopters are able to get in there and reach everybody. But of course, it's no guarantee.

One of the groups we talked today, Firefighters Without Borders, that was one of their main things, they wanted to get into the west coast of Aceh, set up a medical unit so that survivors could come to them with their injuries and get treated. But without setting up a unit like that there, the survivors have no other option.

So, it is a desparate situation, but having said that, aid workers say they do see these kinks are coming loose now. The bottlenecks are opening up. It just takes time, Unfortunately that's the one thing survivors don't have.

RIMINTON: Atika Shubert there in Medan, thank you very much for joining us.

And perhaps time now to remind you of our Web site, CNN.com/tsunami. This is a site at which you can, if you want to, if you need to, post messages, if you're looking for loved ones or friends who are still missing.

You can also see links there to aid organizations if you want to contribute yourself in any way. There's a full list of those involved in the area. It's your pick. You decide those ways in which you want to help most.

There's a message board for people, both searching, people who have actually gotten out safe so they can reassure other loved ones that they are OK.

So at any stage you want to get an update of information or any other purposes CNN.com/tsunami.

Now, when we return from the break, the terrible stories of some of those tourists survivors as they return home to their normal lives. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIMINTON: Welcome back. We're coming to you live from with the latest on the tsunami disaster.

Now, across the world, this being a Sunday, there have been church services as people go to pray for those who are missing, pray for families who have lost loved ones in England. In Gloucester cathedral, there was a prayer service today. England has lost and still has many people missing, particularly from the tourist areas of Thailand. And of course, this is an international -- it is a global tragedy. The prayers being offered for those who are suffering at this stage right across the world.

And in Delhi in India, there were also services today. India, of course, has been enormously hard-hit, both in the southeast of the country, particularly Tamil Nadu Province and also in India's Islands, the Andaman and Nicobar chain. Plenty to pray about. So much comfort that will needed to be dispensed for so long to so many people out of this disaster.

Well, tourists have been returning home, those survivors from terrible places with terrible experiences of loss and their own survival in many cases is a matter of deep trauma. Gary Cotrell went to London's Heathrow airport to meet with some of those returning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY COTRELL, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Home from the horror, but not free from it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went under so many times, I can't believe I came back up.

COTRELL: Amanda Simons is in a wheelchair as a result of her ordeal but her wounds are more than just physical. She's one of the few to escape from Khao Lak, Thailand's worst affected beach where more than 2,000 holiday makers died. Her hotel collapsed under the force of the wave.

AMANDA SIMONS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: And the current just took me out. And I got trapped between some concrete and wood on my head and this Thai man, he saved me, pulled me out, but then I saw him body washed up.

COTRELL: Amanda feels guilty about her rescuers death and sorry she count do more to help others.

SIMONS; There was a girl who I can't find, her name is Matilda, and she was from Argentina, and we were in the sea together, and when it went under, she said, take my hand. And I said, no I can't, because I know you can't hold on to someone, you've got to be strong and be on your own. And I didn't take her hand. When the next wave came, she didn't come back up.

COTRELL: Amanda's boyfriend is angry. He says British officials in Thailand left them stranded without food, money or documents.

DARYL PHILLIPS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: Every other country has come all the way through, even people not even injured first class seats home, free. We had nothing. They told us we were on our own.

COTRELL: Many homecoming Britons are struggling to see with the things they've seen and experienced. Amanda Simons is no exception.

SIMONS: Someone up there didn't want me to go today. And I made it. But it's not fair all of the people that didn't make it.

COTRELL: Gary Cotrell, ITV news. (END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Now when we return, a fishing fleet high and dry, needing to overcome both its fears and all the damage in order to get back out to sea.

And Stan Grant reports from the savagely hit rebel-held north of Sri Lanka.

That's when we return. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIMINTON: Welcome back to Sri Lanka and across Sri Lanka today, there have also been prayers being offered up a number of services in tiny churches, many of them badly damaged but also in the larger centers as well. Christian services on the Sunday. And with some of the other parts of the world, the things have been the same really, trying to offer comfort to those who are grieving, those who have lost loved ones, those still missing out there somewhere and perhaps unidentified, in most cases now I think most people starting to realize that there are people who are missing who are not going to come hope.

There are also Buddhist ceremonies across Sri Lanka today. Buddhism is the predominant religion here as it is in Thailand, and they were also offering up their prayers and condolences to the people suffering at this time.

On the ground offering his own condolences and also making his own assessment of conditions, Sri Lanka's prime minister has been on a road trip of his own, traveling down the western coast from Colombo, visiting Galle, the old Portuguese City settled by the Portuguese 500 years ago. So severely damaged. The prime minister of Hindra Rajapaksa walking around and assessing for himself the extraordinary amount of damage to his country, that has gutted his country, that has left 5 percent of countries population tonight still without homes to sleep in.

They are totally displaced. Mr. Rajapaksa also visited the little fishing town of Barawala, that is where I'm standing at the moment. He came through here briefly, had a look around and spoke to some people and then proceeded down south to see the conditions in Galle. The further south you go the worse things become.

Now this fishing town goes out, they collect tuna from the deep waters and they sell it around the world. Some of the tuna that people get anywhere in the world may well have come from this little town. The fishing fleet is going nowhere just at the moment. They've suffered severe damage from the tsunami. I spoke a little earlier on today with the manager of the port here in Beruwala.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than 500 boats, we have only 220 boats in my harbor but I know more than 500 boats were there. RIMINTON: So about one in three, one out of every three of your boats here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

RIMINTON: Has been lost?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

RIMINTON: Are they insured? I mean can you get money back from insurance?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they are not insured, because they are all going to the deep sea. They can't be insured.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Now in the north of Sri Lanka, in the Tamil held, the rebel-held areas of this country, there is an enormous death toll still being counted and aid is a great difficulty. There seem to be in many ways some levels behind the rest of Sri Lanka in terms of recovery of bodies, assessing the damage, getting aid and infrastructure under way. For an update on the north of Sri Lanka we're joined by CNN's Stan Grant. Stan, have things improved at all in the last 24 hours?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about aid. Over the -- I've seen more trucks coming along the road here and heading up some of the refugee camps, more trucks being unloaded. I'm actually here at the moment at the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization. Now this is an arm of the Tamil Tigers, of course the rebels Tamil Tigers who hold this part of northern Sri Lanka, but there is a problem here. When you come into this part of Sri Lanka, you have to leave the south, you have to go through a border crossing and to a Tamil checkpoint.

At nightfall that closes and that means that no more trucks can actually through. We are here at the moment, they are unpacking the goods I have but no more trucks have to come there through because you have to enter the Defacto state, that is causing problems for the relief, of course for those who have been so afflicted by these devastating tsunamis.

RIMINTON (voice over): A TV camera will almost always bring a smile to a child's face, even here, among children whose eyes have seen more suffering than any child's should. They are huddled here together in a makeshift refugee camp, 1,000 people here, all escaped the tsunami that flattened their town of Malativu in Sri Lanka's north. They need the essentials of life -- clean water, food and clothing. None of it can come quickly enough. Across the whole Tamil Tiger rebel stronghold of the north and east, there are nearly 7000,000 people homeless and struggling to survive. The Tamil Tigris and relief groups say the death toll is nearly 20,000. The number of missing another 20,000. The death toll, they say, is expected to raise to at least 40,000 in the coming days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the problem. In front of the eyes, lost in front of your eyes.

RIMINTON: Everywhere, there are reminders of death. The bodies of the dead cremated. Here we come across a mass grave each dirt mound another tsunami victim. There are hundreds here alone.

RIMINTON (on camera): These are not just mass graves. They're reminders of the living, because every one of the hundreds of people who are buried here lived, and then died so suddenly in that tsunami. And they've all left someone behind to deal with the grief. Tamil political leaders say first, two decades of civil war, now this, has shattered these people.

S. P. TAMILWELYAN,(Translator): These people were just about to reestablish themselves and especially the population that was living along the coastline, mostly fishing population and they have lost almost everything that can be called anything for a lively hood.

RIMINTON: But life is about the little things. Even here with all lost, kids still play like kids. And men still deal their cards, and gamble on fate. Now,

GRANT: Now Hugh as I was saying nightfall here that, means the border closes and no more aid relief can come across and into these badly-affected areas. However, there was an improvement throughout the day. Obviously more boxes coming in, more things being unloaded, and just as an indication, we talk a lot about aid relief and what the people actually need on the ground. I've got with me here a fairly good example of what's in an average aid pack.

If I go through it, some clothing here, as you can see, there are some food stuffs and some powdered milk, which of course is very much needed, especially by the children. Of course, rice, very much a part of the staple diet. There are candles in there, there are matches and so on. These are the things that people need, just to get by, the essentials they need to get by in the coming days. There's been a bit of a concern, particularly amongst the Tamil and places spread throughout the rest of the world, they are donating their money, donating their food but concern of it actually getting here.

I can say that yes it is getting through. But as I pointed out a somewhat crazy situation here when the border closes, so does the aid relief. It simply stops coming through. Hugh.

RIMINTON: Stan, thank you very much for joining us, and I can say, there's one thing the seems crazier than a border that stops aid to people who desperately need it, it is a sight that you'll see around Sri Lanka and around Thailand and other places of tourists still going about their business, they are walking on beaches, they are going for swims in some of the hotels that are still around, making a fine show of enjoying themselves while of course, close around them people suffering in these appalling conditions.

Now it seems on the face of it bizarre behavior, almost insensitive behavior, and yet, in most of these countries, they're saying that's exactly what they want tourists to do. They don't want them to go away. They want them to enjoy themselves and they want them to return to these countries both in Sri Lanka and also in Thailand. CNN's Aneesh Raman says that that is exactly what he found as he went for a wander through the Thai resort island of Phuket.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN (on camera): It has been more than a week since the devastating waves devoured the coastline here in Phuket. This is one of the hardest hit areas, and you can see that the debris still remains. They've yet to really clean it up. In other places such as Phiphi Island, on the coastal area of Khaolak (ph), they're only now beginning to get to the hardest hit areas, getting relief to those people. And as they clean this debris they're finding more and more bodies. Thousands of people remain missing, a good number of which are foreign tourists.

But amidst this debris and among these casualties it is a stark and contrasting image. This, and then there's this, visitors returning to the island of Phuket now, one week later. It is an economic imperative for this industry to be rebuilt and rebuilt quickly. Phiphi Island is gone. The coastal area of Khaolak (ph) is devastated. The only area that is in some semble and standing is Phuket Island. Hotel owners we spoke to said if they are to salvage the season and keep an essential industry going for this country, they need visitors to come back and come back quickly.

So for them, these are the images that are essential to them continuing, the thousands of lively hoods that depend on this industry. It is a though and akward and surreal transition. Bodies remain unfound, debris still litters this island, yet people are coming back. This is the hope, this situation will begin to stabilize and move forward. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Phuket, southern Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Quite extraordinary. When we return on this special report, coming to you live from Sri Lanka, rebuilding an orphanage with help from around the world. Stay with us on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIMINTON: Welcome back, coming to you live from Sri Lanka. As we have been finding during the course of this last week, there are really two stories involved here, one this unprecedented disaster. The other story has been an unprecedented outpouring across the world of people wanting to help in all kinds of ways, governmentally, $2 billion the U.N. says, has been pledged in aid, this is from governments and major international organizations like the World Bank. There's also been all of this aid and help that has been offered by individuals.

In an orphanage in Sri Lanka that has been wiped away. Heaven knows there have been enough extra orphans added over the course of this last week. But in this particular orphanage, it was wiped away, they seem to have lost everything just when it was needed most, until people started coming to the rescue. This report from CNN's Jeanne Meserve. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEANNA SANDERS: Dear Mrs. Sanders, we wish you and your family many prayers throughout this tragedy.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The mail has brought Deanna Sanders condolences and checks.

DIVANA SANDERS: This is a check for $100, for $800, $500, $250.

MESERVE: In one day, a total of $7,400, to rebuild the orphanage Divana's brother Daylon Sanders established on a sliver of seaside in Sri Lanka in 1994.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's just 10 years old and been with us just a couple of months.

MESERVE: Daylon left a comfortable life in the U.S., selling his home to finance the building of the orphanage and help the children in his native country.

SAMALAN (ph) SANDERS: Since he was a little boy, he was a very caring person. He would collect money in a little purse and give it away to beggars.

MESERVE: Twenty eight children found a home at the orphanage until last Sunday.

DAYLAN SANDERS, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, SAMARITAN CHILDRENS HOME: There are no words in human speech to describe what we saw. It was a 30-foot wall of sea just bearing down on us, like an angry monster.

MESERVE: Daylan crammed the orphans and his family into one small boat, which uncharacteristically started on the first try.

DIVANA SANDERS: The boat capacity was only 15 people. They were like 30 to 33 people crammed in there, trying to get across the lagoon to the city, and there were all dead bodies in this lagoon and people holding onto rafters and branches and screaming to them and asking them to help them.

MESERVE: Daylon and the children survived. The orphanage did not.

KANYA SANDERS: It's been incomprehensible, and just you know mind blowing, but you know, we are so, so thankful and grateful to god, you know that, they were saved so miraculously.

MESERVE: Daylon's family and friends in Maryland immediately set about raising the estimated $400,000 it will take to rebuild the orphanage. Two newspaper stories have generated a torrent of calls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Samaritan home relief. How can I help you?

MESERVE: And contributions. DIVANA SANDERSL Wow! $1,500. Amazing. "My sympathy to you and your fellow countrymen from Sri Lanka. I hope this gift will help towards rebuilding the orphanage."

MESERVE: An orphanage that Sri Lanka needs now, more than ever before. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Of course, this disaster may well be the biggest challenge in history for the world's aid agencies with a large or small. We're joined by the emergency director for C.A.R.E., Ahuma Adodoadji. Can you tell us Mr. Andrudwadji what is your response to the response of people around the world for this diseaster? What do you think of it?

AHUMA ADODOADJI, EMERGENCY DIR, CARE USA: C.A.R.E. has mobilized its infrastructure in the area as soon as it happened, because we've been in the countries for decades. We already had nationals on the ground in Sri Lanka within a very short time. We had C.A.R.E. mobilized to help move people to safe ground, and as I speak, CARE has distributed relief supplies to over 35,000 people. In India, CARE has set up a base of operations in Chinai and is actively involved with water purification and helping to move basic essential supplies to people in the affected areas. One of the things we want to stress is that the response should not just be on the short term, but we should begin to look at recovery, and the long-term rebuilding of the communities affected.

CARE is also very actively putting together a team in Indonesia. As I speak, we have colleagues on the ground and we've already put in place the facilities to distribute water distribution facilities which will impact up to 1 million people in the area, and by Wednesday, we should have our team fairly on the ground, ready to move forward.

RIMINTON: Now n the past, it's been a problem where very often, people have been stirred to act over disasters of one kind or another famines or so on, but then quite quickly the focus shifts elsewhere and things do get forgotten. How are you going to keep this a long- term focus in people's minds?

ADODADJI: I think in all of our communications, with very many generals, partners and supporters across the globe, we are stressing that we are in for the long haul. CARE is one of the agencies which tends to go in for the long haul. We do not just go in and pull out quickly, and we are stressing that this is a major catastrophe, that after the CNN and other cameras have gone, there needs to be an even greater, and we are encouraging our partners to provide resources to support that effort and so far, the response has been very encouraging.

RIMINTON: Ahuma Adodoadji from CARE thank you very much for joining us.

ADODADJI: You're welcome Hugh. Thank you. RIMINTON: Coming up next, we're going to have another one of those extraordinary survival stories. It's that Sri Lankan train that was wiped off the tracks by the wave. It was believed all 1,000 people on board died. A handful of them survived. We'll speak to one of them. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIMINTON: Welcome back to Sri Lanka. If you drive down the Sri Lankan west coast, before you get too far, you come across a railway line that has been completely wiped away. You see the wreckage of a train, up to 15 carriages totally driven into the jungle. It's hard to believe that more than 1,000 people killed there. A senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta met one of the very few survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the coastal southern Sri Lankan town these gentle waves don't give any indication of the devastation they could wreak. When the tsunami came it now only swept swimmers and boats out to deep sea but half a kilometer inland it swept a train right off its tracks, throwing the cars around as if they were toys. Ciandela Gijmasera (ph) a school teacher and her daughter were returning home that day and it almost made it when the train suddenly screeched to a halt. They weren't alarmed at first, thinking it was a villager stepping on the tracks to commit suicide. A disturbingly common event in this deprived area of Sri Lanka, but then she looked to her right.

CHANDELA GIJMASERA (ph) (Translator): I started shouting, oh, my god, and grabbed my daughter."

GUPTA: She was staring right into the first wave of the tsunami.

GIJMASERA (ph) (Translator): The water was rising incredibly fast and very quickly, it rose to the train bar. Our heads floated to the top of the train box. It all happened in less than two minutes. I kept thinking, what can I do.

GUPTA: At the time she thought only of her daughter.

GIJMASERA (ph) (translator): I put my daughter on top of the luggage rack inside of the train.

GUPTA (on camera): When the second wave hit her train was tossed through the air, and that was the last thing she remembers. When they say it seems like a bomb went off, this is what they're talking about, a square kilometer of utter devastation, creating an instant burial ground for more than 500 people. Today, about a week after the tsunami hit, 24 more bodies have been recovered.

GUPTA (voice over): Somehow Ciranka (ph) and her daughter were untouched, with only a few scrapes. They escaped through a window. They were the only ones in their entire train car to survive. The tsunami stripped this entire area of life, and of hope. This victim died so suddenly, the hand still holds the handkerchief. Reminders of children lost, the most painful to see, a child's shoe, a baby's picture, a grade schooler's book, and a young boy's bike. As the Sri Lankan air force raise bodies from the rubble, hundreds stare in stunned silence. Among the dead were those who lived in near by homes crushed not only by the waves but also by a train hurdling through the air.

It will take an impossibly long time to clean up but eventually this area may return to some sense of what it was. At the same time, Chandrik (ph) and her daughter have already begun to piece back their own lives. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: And we've learned of another survivor whose story if anything, when she gets to tell it is even more remarkable. A 4-year- old girl was on that train, she is the only survivor of her entire family. They thought she was herself, dead. She was taken with so many other bodies into a morgue. Her name is Damani Samantika. The way she was in the morgue they were preparing her to be buried with others and realized that she was alive. She is reunited with her grandfather.

Well CNN's correspondents continue to cover this extraordinary story around the region in Asia. Stay with us. We're staying with the story. I'm Hugh Riminton on the beach in Sri Lanka coming to you live. The news continues on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com