Indonesia Toll Nears 300 As Aid Workers Arrive

The first rescue workers arrived at a remote Indonesian island chain Wednesday where hundreds of villagers were killed and hundreds more were missing after an earthquake-triggered tsunami swamped their homes.

Planes and helicopters packed with aid workers and supplies landed at the Mentawai islands off the coast of Sumatra. Disaster officials were still trying to reach more than a dozen villages in the islands, which are a mecca for surfers and take about 12 hours to reach by boat.

Aerial surveys of the region revealed huge swaths of land underwater and the crumbled rubble of homes torn apart by the wave. One house lay tilted, resting on the edge of its red roof, with tires and slabs of concrete piled up on the surrounding sand.

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