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29 Skeletons Recovered From Tsunami Site

By DILIP GANGULY | Associated Press Writer

12:54 PM EST, March 1, 2005

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The skeletal remains of 29 people have been found near the site where the Dec. 26 tsunami swept away a commuter train in one of the single worst losses of life from the disaster, police said Tuesday.

The train's 2,000 reported victims also included villagers who had jumped on board seeking safety from the waves or were crushed by the carriages. Only 824 bodies have been identified.

The 29 skeletons were recovered Monday from muddy water, said Consul Korala, the police chief of Meetiyagoda, close to where the Queen of the Sea train was swept away by the giant waves about 50 miles south of the capital, Colombo.

The remains of at least 36 people were recovered near the site in February.

Sri Lanka's National Disaster Management Center under the Social Services Ministry have said the death toll from the tsunami stands at more than 31,000. Nearly 5,000 others remain missing.

At least 172,000 people across Asia died in the tsunami, and 125,000 are missing and presumed dead. Most of the victims were in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Former President Clinton, who traveled with former President George H.W. Bush to tsunami-affected countries, said that hardest-hit Indonesia and Sri Lanka could take years to rebuild.

"I think the long-term rebuilding is challenging," Clinton said during a stop in Singapore. "It would cost a lot of money and we've got to be prepared for at least three to four years."

Channel News Asia, a television news station in Singapore, quoted Clinton -- who is helping to lead the private American relief effort and will soon become the United Nations envoy for tsunami relief -- as saying Monday that countries that gave assistance to tsunami survivors must be prepared to do more.

In Indonesia, a long-awaited master plan to rebuild the tsunami-shattered province of Aceh could take another six months to draft, a government official said Tuesday.

"This is a holistic, complete plan to rebuild Aceh, and we don't want to miss anything," said Governor Azwar Abubakar.

That process will include reviving the region's devastated fishing industry, which supplies livelihoods to hundreds of thousands of families.

Meanwhile, the tiny Sri Lankan tsunami survivor known as "Baby 81" headed Tuesday to the United States to appear on ABC's "Good Morning America" with his parents.

Murugupillai Jeyarajah, his wife, Jenita, and their 4-month-old son, Abilass, were granted expedited visas by the U.S. Embassy, U.S. Consul General Marc Williams said.

The baby was pulled from his mother's arms by the killer waves and found, caked in mud, hours later by rescuers who brought him to a hospital, where he was dubbed "Baby 81" because he was the 81st person admitted. Although several other women claimed him, he eventually was reunited with his true parents.