Wednesday, December 29 2004 10:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Geneva: The world's biggest-ever aid operation got into gear today (Dec 29, 2004) to help Asian countries stricken by tsunamis that smashed coastal towns and left misery and the risk of disease in their wake.

The unprecedented effort involved neighbouring Asian States, European countries, the United States and international organisations, as well as countless people offering whatever individual help they could.

But foreign doctors and relief workers faced vast devastation, with the latest death tolls across the region totalling more than 55,000.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appealed for $ 44 million in immediate aid for victims.

"We face a huge challenge due to the vast area affected," Markku Niskala, secretary general of the organisation, said in Geneva, adding, "We haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg yet."

The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) said that the situation was "so enormous and shocking" that it had opened stockpiles of shelters, matting, clothing and cooking materials in Sri Lanka, where nearly 18,000 were killed and 200,000 were homeless.

"Our supplies are usually for displaced people, but this is an emergency and the local population needs help right now," UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers said in Geneva.

Aid planes from China, Denmark, France, India and Russia delivered tonnes of humanitarian relief and medical staff to the Island State.

In nearby India, where more than 8,500 were known to have died, the local Red Cross issued an appeal for food, clothes, tarpaulins and kitchen utensils, while the Government authorised immediate spending worth $ 114 million.

Aid workers warned of a health crisis as Indian camps became over packed with people in need of food, water and shelter and diarrhoeal disease started to spread.

A UNICEF (United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund) official inspecting the situation in southern India, Lizette Burgers, said, "Getting clean water to people in the camps is critical at this point to head off the spread of disease."

Other countries struggling with smashed infrastructure and desperate populations were Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Indonesia said that its death toll was more than 27,000 - the worst of any of the countries hit. Remote areas there, particularly the Aceh region closest to the undersea quake that triggered the tsunamis, were in danger of suffering further deaths if aid was not delivered within days.

"We can assume after a tidal wave of that kind that dengue fever and diarrhoea will spread," said Hadi Kuswoyo of the International Federation of the Red Cross in Jakarta.

At UN headquarters in New York, Jan Egeland, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters that relief operations would be the biggest in history.