BANDA ACEH, Indonesia – As the first U.S. military cargo plane arrived with supplies for this devastated town Friday, Indonesian's health minister warned that the death toll could reach 100,000 and that water-born disease could become a threat.
The flow of aid — including medicine and body bags for the dead — got a big boost as the first of many expected C-130 cargo planes arrived at the regional airport here. Relief teams from Taiwan, Australia, South Korea (search) and other nations were also already on the ground.
In Jakarta, the government has put the death toll on Sumatra at roughly 80,000. But Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supadi said the death toll could reach 100,000 because officials are finding more and more bodies from the hard-hit remote northwest coast of Sumatra island (search).
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"We expect the death toll to rise to 100,000 because we're finding more and more bodies," Supadi said.
Supadi also warned that officials are "worried" about survivors falling victim to deadly water-born diseases like cholera and diarrhea.
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