Daughter reunited with father six months after tsunami

Acehnese Muhammad Ali hugs his daughter Sri Handayani during a reunification in Banda Aceh yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

A tearful Sri Handayani, who was staying in another town with a relative when the tsunami hit, hugged her father, Muhammad Ali, as they met at the social affairs office in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.

"Aren't mama and sister with us anymore?" Handayani asked Ali, 46. Ali told the daughter that her mother and one of her three sisters did not survive the disaster.

"I'm happy to be reunited with father again," she told reporters.

Ali said he was at home with his wife and three of their five children when the tsunami engulfed his village. His wife's body and that of one of the children were never found.

UNICEF says 1,082 children in Indonesia are listed as "separated" from their families -- a euphemism which, in most cases, now means orphaned. Of these, all but 70 are living with relatives or other families in their communities.