Indonesia's coastlines account for 25,000 victims, according to Indonesian vice-president. 10,000 were killed in a single town, Meulaboh, according to Purnomo Sidik, national disaster director at Social Affairs Ministry. 19,000 more died in Sri Lanka, whose toll grew significantly when it was discovered 1,000 people were either dead or missing from a train that was flung off its tracks when the gigantic waves hit. The train's eight carriages were reduced to nothing more than twisted metal.

4,000 more died in India. 1,500 in Tailand and the toll is still rising as more and more victims are being discovered after washing ashore.

Scores of people were also killed in Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, the Maldives. The tidal waves traveled even as far as Somalia on Africa's east coast, where hundreds were reported dead, and Seychelles, where several were reported to have been killed there.

All in all, estimates put Muslims over 70% of those killed or victims of the quake and tidal waves. And it is their children who have been the biggest victims of Sunday's quake-born tidal waves. The U.N. organization estimates at least one-third of the tens of thousands who died were children, said UNICEF (news - web sites) spokesman Alfred Ironside in New York.

See Video Annimation of Tsunami
http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/movies/globe.mov

Warnings Did Not Reach Public In Time
Officials in Thailand and Indonesia conceded that immediate public warnings of gigantic waves could have saved lives. The only known warning issued by Thai authorities reached resort operators when it was too
late. The waves hit Sri Lanka and India more than two hours after the quake.

But governments insisted they couldn't have known the true danger because there is no international system in place to track tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, and they could not afford the sophisticated equipment to build one.

For most people around the shores across the region, the only warning Sunday of the disaster came when shallow coastal waters disappeared, sucked away by the approaching tsunami, before returning as a massive wall of water. The waves wiped out villages, lifted cars and boats, yanked children from the arms of parents and swept away beachgoers, scuba divers and fishermen, without any warning.

Looting? - Or Just Trying to Survive?
U.N. Undersecretary Jan Egeland, who is in charge of emergency relief coordination said, "This could be the costiliest disaster in all history. Hundreds of thousands have lost everything, and millions face a hazardous future because of polluted drinking water, a lack of sanitation and no health services."

Tengku Zulkarnain, the district official, explained that food and water are scarce, and with aid is not arriving fast enough, desperate residents in Meulaboh and other towns in Aceh are searching anywhere and everywhere for something to eat.

"People are looting, but not because they are evil, but they are hungry," said Red Cross official Irman Rachmat in Banda Aceh.

Meanwhile in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, and surrounding towns, soldiers and volunteers combed seaside districts and dug into rubble of destroyed houses to seek survivors and retrieve the dead amid unconfirmed reports that other towns along Aceh's west coast had been demolished.

Europeans desperately sought relatives missing from holidays in Southeast Asia — particularly Thailand, where bodies littered the once crowded beach resorts. Near the devastated Similan Beach and Spa Resort, where mostly German tourists were staying, a naked corpse hung suspended from a tree Tuesday as if crucified.

A blond two-year-old Swedish boy, Hannes Bergstroem, found sitting alone on a road in Thailand and taken to a hospital was reunited with his uncle, who saw the boy's picture on the hospital's Web site. "This is a miracle, the biggest thing that could happen," said the uncle, who identified himself as Jim.

So far, more than 80 Westerners have been confirmed dead across the region — including 11 Americans. A British consulate official in Thailand warned possibly hundreds more foreign tourists may have died in the country's resorts.

Sri Lanka - Haalima, grandmother to 5 year old Adil, who was carried away by a gigantic wave, recalled, "We had never seen the sea looking like that. It was like as if a calm sea had suddenly become a raging monster."

Adil was making sandcastles with his younger sister, Reeze, while their grandmother, Haalima sat in her home Sunday morning. Haalima said the girl ran to her complaining that waves had crushed their castles. Suddenly there were screams and water began rushing into their home. "When we looked outside, there was no shore anymore -- and no Adil," said Haalima.

Elsewhere in Sri Lanka, local residents took up burial efforts using whatever they could find, some using forks or even bare hands to scrape a final resting place for victims.

Land Mines Complicate Matters More
Tidal waves and flooding have uprooted land mines in parts of war-torn Sri Lanka. The mines could detonate at the slightest touch and explode into thousands of deadly pieces, flying in all directions. These deadly devices once buried underground are now lying exposed amongst the litter and aftermath, threatening to kill or maim aid workers and survivors who are attempting to return to what's left of their homes. This adds
yet another complication and setback to the rescue and restoration operations.

Miraculous Stories of Survival
Amid the devastation, however, were some miraculous and wonderful stories of survival. A Hong Kong couple vacationing in Thailand survived by clinging to a mattress while in the raging ocean for six hours. Final Note - 20 Day Old Baby Survives on Mattress
A 20-day-old baby, in Malaysia, a was found alive on a floating mattress. She and her family were later happily reunited.