SIUMU, Samoa (Reuters) - Rescuers pulled bodies from the mud and twisted rubble and fished bloated corpses from the South Pacifc's blue sea off Samoa on Wednesday as the death toll from a series of tsunamis continued to rise.
Christopher Moore of NOAA looks at computer graphs at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, concerning the earthquake and tsunami that hit American Samoa September 29, 2009. (REUTERS/Hugh Gentry)
"We've seen pick-up trucks carrying the dead ... back to town," said New Zealand tourist Fotu Becerra. "We were shocked when we saw the first one but after three hours, it seemed normal."
Four powerful tsunamis generated by a huge undersea quake crashed into Samoa and neighbouring American Samoa on Tuesday, destroying in minutes what was a South Pacific paradise of palm trees, resorts and pristine beaches.
"After the earthquake happened, after about five minutes all you could hear was screaming," an unnamed Australian holidaymaker told local media. The waves which reached at least 6 metres (20 feet) high ripped buildings apart and washed people out to sea, some still sleeping in their beds, say survivors.
The death toll stands at more than 100, but officials said it was rising, with hundreds missing and some 20 Polynesian villages in Samoa destroyed and scores more flattened in American Samoa.
Pago Pago resident Joey Cummings said buildings were not just destroyed but had vanished, washed away completely by the waves.
Reuters photographer Hugh Gentry said Pago Pago looked "like a war zone". "The most tragic (scene) was the discovery of a small girl found floating in the harbour," he said.
WASHED AWAY AS THEY FLED
The waves hit early in the morning, almost without warning, leaving many villagers little chance to outrun the ocean which surged 200 metres (656 feet) inland.
"Some, they have no place (to run), especially kids and the oldest, they lost their lives," Tua Taleu, who fled to higher ground as waves swallowed his village, told Australian radio.
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said it was fortunate that the tsunami struck in daylight. "If it had come in the dark and the tide was high, the number of people who died would be much higher," he told Reuters.
The Samoan undersea 8 magnitude quake was so powerful it also created small tsunamis which reached Hawaii, the west coast of California and Japan within hours.
Along the southern coast of Samoa's main island Upolu, which bore the brunt of the tsunamis, palm trees which had withstood powerful cyclones were snapped like twigs by the force of the ocean -- barely a tree has been left standing.
Radio New Zealand, quoting disaster authorities, said 32,000 people have been affected by the tsunami, with 3,000 homeless.
Australian, New Zealand and U.S. military aircraft carrying medical staff and emergency supplies have started landing in the two Samoas.
An Indian Ocean tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 -- which killed about 230,000 people in 11 countries -- is the worst on record.
(Additional reporting by Baris Atayman in Samoa, Adrian Bathgate and Mantik Kusjanto in Wellington, Rob Taylor and James Grubel in Canberra)
(Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by )
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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