Tsunami Deaths Top 226,000

Sigh. It was inevitaable I guess, but today the count of tsunami deaths not only passed 200K but reached 226K. Why? Tens of thousands previously on the list as "missing" have been moved to "missing and presumed dead."

The global death toll from the Asian tsunami shot above 226,000 Wednesday after Indonesia's Health Ministry confirmed the deaths of tens of thousands of people previously listed as missing. The ministry raised the country's death toll to 166,320. It had previously given a figure of 95,450 while Indonesia's Ministry of Social Affairs had put the death toll at around 115,000 before it stopped counting. Dodi Indrasanto, a director at the health ministry's department of health affairs, said the new death total reflected the latest reports from the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, which were directly in the path of the killer tsunami spawned by a magnitude 9 earthquake the day after Christmas. The new figure lifted the total global death toll from the tsunami disaster to 226,566, although the number continues to rise as more deaths are reported around the region.

And in a show of solidarity and amazing sensitivity [insert sarcasm here] the EU has warned tsunami-devasated Thailand that they must buy at least 6 European Superjumbo jets or face tariffs against their fishing industries. C'Mon, European Union. Let's gain back some perspective. And at least let the Thais finish burying their dead before hitting them up for pretection money.