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Death toll from tsunami reaches 659

The death toll from the Indonesian tsunami earlier this week rose to 659 after emergency workers reached a previously inaccessible area along Java island's southern coast, the government said Saturday.
/ Source: The Associated Press

The death toll from the Indonesian tsunami earlier this week rose to 659 after emergency workers reached a previously inaccessible area along Java island's southern coast, the government said Saturday.

Drajat Santosa, an official at the government's National Disaster Management Coordinating Board, said nearly 100 bodies were found in a part of Ciamis district that had been cut off by a broken bridge.

The toll climbed to 659 with 330 others missing, he said. Previously, the government said 547 had been killed.

A powerful earthquake on Monday sent towering waves crashing into a 110-mile stretch of Java's southern coast, destroying scores of houses, restaurants and hotels. Cars, motorbikes and boats were left mangled amid fishing nets, furniture and other debris.