President heads to disaster zone as tsunami death toll nears 350

Questions are mounting over whether an elaborate warning system failed after the death toll from a tsunami that struck Indonesia Monday climbed to 343. Meanwhile, after a second natural disaster, a mass funeral is being held for 32 killed after Java’s Mount Merapi volcano erupted on Tuesday.

Reuters/Indonesian Red Cross handout

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is was heading to the tsunami disaster zone, off the west coast of Sumatra, where fears are growing for the 348 still missing.

The wave was triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake off the Mentawai Islands, washing away entire villages.

Survivors said they had almost no warning of the three-metre wall of water, despite the implementation of a sophisticated network of alarm buoys.

Many now wonder if the expensive warning system, established after the 2004 Asian tsunami, failed.

Medical personnel were arriving on helicopters but boats bearing aid have been hampered by bad weather around the islands, which are about half a day's ferry ride away from the port of Padang on Sumatra.

A ship bearing aid including food, water, medical supplies as well as body bags arrived Thursday at Sikakap, on North Pagai island, one of the two worst-hit islands in the Mentawai group.

Troops and naval personnel have been dispatched to the area.