Marooned, but still alive

The airforce base in this eastern district of Ampara, one of the hardest hit by Sunday's natural disaster, was resuming rescue operations to help the villagers marooned on a narrow strip of high ground, but without food or water.

"We have already carried out four sorties to drop food and water to them," Squadron leader Chaminda Wickramaratna told the first group of journalists to reach Ampara after the tragedy.

"We are now taking doctors because most of the people are suffering from dehydration."

Local officials estimate about 8,000 people had perished in Sunday's disaster, but most parts of this remote coastal region, 350 kilometres east of the capital by road, is inaccessible even at best of times because of the hostile terrain.

Military personnel here are on a war-footing to carry supplies for thousands of villagers driven out of their homes.

More helicopters are expected to reinforce the effort here once an Indian naval ship carrying its own air transport docks in at the north-eastern port district of Trincomalee, further north of here.

The air base here has already helped with the evacuation of some 200 people, mostly foreign nationals, from the picturesque wind-surfing resort of Arugam Bay, just south-east of this base.