Tsunami death toll rises to 429

JAKARTA: The death toll from the tsunami that hit Indonesian islands without warning on Saturday has passed 420 with more than 1,400 people injured.

Thousands of people were left homeless when the waves smashed homes on coastal areas of western Java and southern Sumatra. Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the death toll had climbed to 429 on Tuesday and at least 128 were missing.

Military troops, government personnel and volunteers were searching along debris-strewn beaches. Where victims were found, body bags were laid out, and weeping relatives identified the dead.

The Christmas holiday was sombre with prayers for tsunami victims in the Indonesian region hit by waves that struck without warning Saturday night.

Markus Taekz said the Rahmat Pentecostal Church in the hard-hit area of Carita did not celebrate with joyous music.

Instead, he said only about 100 people showed up for the Christmas Eve service, usually attended by double that number, because many people had left the area for the capital, Jakarta, or other areas away from the disaster zone.

POP SINGER TO BURY WIFE KILLED BY WAVES

The front man of popular Indonesian pop group Seventeen was to bury his wife on Tuesday, compounding a tragedy that saw his three bandmates also killed when a tsunami tore into their open-air concert.

Dramatic footage posted online showed fans clapping and cheering before the wave smashes into the concert, hurling band members from the stage and slamming into the audience. Lead vocalist Riefian Fajarsyah posted a video clip of himself on social media stroking the coffin of his wife, actress and TV personality Dylan Sahara, in her hometown of Ponorogo.