Six More Months Needed to Find All Dead Bodies in Aceh

It will take workers six more months to find all of the dead bodies in the Indonesian province of Aceh, said the Red Cross.

Numerous volunteers have been looking for dead bodies in the rubble of Aceh since the December 26, 2004 tsunami struck.

The Red Cross originally estimated that it would take two months to collect all of the dead bodies, but have realized that their initial estimate is well off the mark.

"According to the information from the local Red Cross volunteers, the collection will go on for six months," said Yrsa Grune, a Red Cross spokeswoman.

The number of people volunteering for the effort has decreased, so the number of bodies found daily has decreased to about 70.

The work of finding dead bodies is extremely emotionally exhausting and the condition of the bodies now being found make the work even more difficult; the tropical temperatures cause rapid decomposition.