United Nations officials say it will take days for international aid to reach survivors of the tsunami that devastated southern Asian coasts Sunday.
The official in charge of U.N. aid, Jan Egeland, says aid workers and supplies are trickling into Asia's remote tsunami-hit areas, but it could take three days to reach those in need of assistance.
In Indonesia, a spokesman for the United Nations World Food Program (Michael Huggins) tells VOA that aid workers there are facing a logistics nightmare in getting supplies to hard-hit areas.
The World Health Organization has warned that sanitation problems and disease could double the immediate death toll.
Sixty nations have pledged more than 220 million dollars in initial aid. A much larger appeal from the United Nations is expected January sixth.
Thousands of Indians fled in panic today (Thursday) from coastal areas hit by Sunday's tsunami after authorities issued a new alert for possible high waves.
People rushed for high ground in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and in Port Blair, the capital of the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Officials said the warning -- issued as a precautionary measure -- was based on information that aftershocks in the Andaman region could trigger high waves.
But the U.S. Geological Survey says it did not detect any quake strong enough to generate a tsunami.
Meanwhile, the Indian troops, ships and aircraft are continuing to ferry aid to the stricken regions. Troops are also evacuating survivors from the Andamans, where thousands of island inhabitants are missing and feared dead.