Death toll rises from Indonesia tsunami

Emergency supplies are finally arriving on the remote Indonesian islands slammed by a tsunami that killed at least 272 people.

Elsewhere in the archipelago, the toll from the volcanic eruption has risen to 30, including the mountain's spiritual caretaker.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has cut short a state visit to Vietnam to rush home to deal with the dual disasters that struck Indonesia within 24 hours, straining the country's ability to respond.

The first aerial surveys of the region hit by the 10ft tsunami revealed huge swaths of land underwater and the crumbled rubble of homes torn apart by the wave.

Two days after an undersea earthquake spawned the killer wave, the casualty count was still rising as rescuers landed for the first time on the Mentawai island chain, which was closest to the epicentre and the worst hit. Bad weather had kept them away previously