Word: sumatra
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Earthquake Shakes Sumatra...
...thickly furred dog, panting in the tropical heat of Indonesia's Sumatra island, was confused. The retriever had picked up the scent of a human in the wreckage of a local college in the city of Padang, which was struck by an earthquake two days before, killing at least 515 people, according to local disaster management officials, with some 4000 more believed to still be buried. But the canine, which had arrived by chartered jet from Switzerland just hours before, hesitated. She licked the air and waved her muzzle back and forth. Something about the smell wasn't right...
...previous missions in places like Turkey and Algeria, Swiss Rescue dogs have nosed out living people as long as six or seven days after a natural disaster. "It's rare, but miracles like that are what keep you going," says Mercier. (See pictures of the earthquake that ravaged Sumatra...
...bodies, or parts of bodies, were discovered by a search-and-rescue team from the Indonesian Special Police. One man identified a leg as his brother's. Another recognized his wife's torso. No other parts of their bodies were found. (See pictures of the earthquake that ravaged Sumatra...
...faced. With no heavy machinery to pull out the bodies, emergency teams have had no choice but to scrabble through the rubble and dirt with shovels or their bare hands. Some have blisters and bloodstains on their palms from the rescue effort. Dr. Rahmat Fajar traveled from south Sumatra to administer to trauma victims, but so far no one has been pulled out alive from the landslide area. "We are still digging," he says. "But we have no hope. None at all." Just then, at nearly 9 p.m., a local walks up to the medic team and announces that another...