Sumatran Woman Survives 5 Days Adrift in Ocean

A Malaysian tuna ship found a woman clinging to a sago palm tree at sea, five days after the deadly tsunami wave swept her from her home on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, officials said Monday.

Melawati, 23, was traumatized and had been bitten by fish but subsisted until her rescue Friday near Aceh province by eating the tree’s fruit and bark, said Goi Kim Par, manager of the Malaysian International Tuna Port.

Crew members aboard the trawler told Malaysia’s national news agency, Bernama, that Melawati had waved frantically to draw their attention; she cried throughout her three days on the ship.

The woman, who uses only one name, was among a number of survivors who have turned up since the disaster.

In India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a 10-year-old Indian girl survived for four days alone in the jungle, living on berries and coconuts, after the tsunami swept away her family.

“She is very much in shock. She says a few words and goes into silence,” said federal lawmaker Manoranjan Bakhta, who described the girl’s ordeal after helping to reunite her with her grandparents Monday.

Almesh Javed, who is from the Nicobarese tribal group, fled to a dense forest after seeing her parents and sister washed out to sea when the deadly wave hit their home on Nancowry island.

Bakhta said she had arrived at a local hospital days later, badly bruised and traumatized after walking several miles.

The lawmaker helped locate the girl’s grandparents on another island, which escaped the killer waves.

At least 5,000 people are feared to have died in the tropical islands, 750 miles off India’s east coast.

The Indian Coast Guard said Monday that four Indonesian fishermen were rescued near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after several days adrift.

Their boat engine had broken down, stranding them before the tsunami hit and ravaged the coasts all around them.

The four were spotted by a reconnaissance helicopter and rescued Saturday.