Guest guest Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 ***************************Advertisement*************************** eCentral - Your Entertainment Guide http://www.star-ecentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/1/8/nation/9845639 & sec=nation ________________________ Saturday January 8, 2005 Animals return to Banda Aceh <b>Chin Mui Yoon in INDONESIA</b> THE streets were caked with thick layers of mud and the dust-choked air was still and eerie. This, said Mercy Malaysia volunteer Dr Quah Boon Leng, was the picture of tsunami-stricken and earthquake-battered Banda Aceh in the first week of the twin disasters. After more than ten days, he said life is stirring again. The animals too have returned to the city centre. Dr Quah, who arrived as part of Mercy & #8217;s first mission here on Dec 28, said not a single animal was spotted throughout all of last week. “Somehow... somewhere... the animals had fled. The humans were not aware of the impending waves of destruc & #8211;tion,” he said. At the Kesdam Hospital, nearly 10 cats suddenly straggled in. They sun themselves all day and sleep on the empty beds in the women & #8217;s dormitory that was formerly occupied by student nurses. In the streets, there are hardly any carcasses of cows or dogs. Now, some dogs are seen limping and wandering about. They wait at places where a lot of people were gathered or were queuing up for food and water. Sadly, not a crumb of food or drop of water was given to these four-legged survivors. The cows have also come home. They lie along the roads, grazing on vegetables left behind by sellers or broken coconuts littering the ground. Nobody seemed to know where these animals had gone to hide when the tsunami flooded the city. At Lampulo, one of the areas around the city that was completely flattened by the tsunami, I saw a family of three ducks calmly gliding across a huge pool of dark, stagnant water amidst the depressing ruins of a once bustling fishing community. The fisher folks said even the burung merpati (pigeons) & #8211; which they said symbolised hope and peace & #8211; have returned. Out of the wreckage, villagers returning to seek the bodies of loved ones, have chanced upon many animal survivors, including ducks and chickens. The lucky creatures have survived 12 days of hiding in the rubble. But they would almost certainly go into the cooking pot by nightfall due to a shortage of fresh meat in the city. <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2004 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.