Australian steamer heads for Indonesia

CANBERRA - HMAS Kanimbla will steam for Indonesia tomorrow as the government ramps up aid for tsunami-ravaged south Asia amid growing signs the Australian death toll will rise substantially.

Ten Australians are now confirmed dead, washed away by the tsunami that struck Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Grave concerns are held for another 12, and a further 1000 Australians remain unaccounted for in areas struck by the deadly waves.

Globally, the death toll has passed the 80,000 mark with the International Red Cross expecting it could climb to 100,000. More than five million people are homeless.

Prime Minister John Howard, who today pleaded with Australians still in affected regions to return home to avoid disease, warned the number of dead would steadily rise.

"The reality is there is still a large number of Australians unaccounted for," he told reporters.

"There is a real possibility that the death toll will be higher."

The federal government has already promised $A35 million ($NZ38.3 million) in financial aid, which is likely to be increased in coming days.

Today, Mr Howard committed extra resources to the effort including HMAS Kanimbla, which will leave Sydney tomorrow carrying helicopters and engineers.

Three Iroquois choppers will be airlifted to Indonesia next week, while a mobile field hospital -- able to accommodate up to 55 beds -- is likely to be set up near devastated Banda Aceh.

The lead elements of the hospital, which will be run by about 90 staff including doctors, nurses and medical technical staff, should be in Sumatra by tomorrow.

Mr Howard said the government was still examining other resources to be sent to the region, including refrigeration devices to store bodies.

A light aircraft, able to work from less developed airstrips in the Aceh region, will head north to help find victims and survivors.

More air crews are being sent to Sumatra to ensure Australia's four Hercules aircraft, and one from New Zealand, can be used around the clock.

A 707 aircraft used earlier this week to send medical teams to Medan, near Aceh, was staying in the region at the request of the Indonesian government to help move people, equipment and supplies.

A mobile water purification unit should arrive in Medan today.

In Thailand, Australian victim identification experts based in Khao Lak, north of the island resort of Phuket, began the grisly task of working through more than 1000 bodies, most of which are Caucasian.

Australia already has 17 police victim identification experts working in Thailand, with 10 New Zealanders to join them tomorrow.

In Khao Lak, bodies -- many still clad in bikinis and T-shirts -- were left at the Lakkaen Buddhist Temple outside the popular dive centre.

The stench was unbearable, with workers forced to wear face masks. Throughout the area, body collection points have been set up, most without refrigeration or cover.

Rescue teams today continued to search through rubble to retrieve bodies, around them workmen hung from cranes making powerlines secure.

New Australian ambassador to Thailand Bill Paterson, who met Thai and other foreign officials in a bid to create a single victim identification process, said a co-ordinated effort was needed.

"Bodies are lying unrefrigerated, deteriorating rapidly," Mr Paterson told reporters.

"This (identification process) will challenge the most advanced countries."

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra predicted the death toll in his country could soar from the current 1975 confirmed deaths to nearly 7000.

Mr Howard called on people to take advantage of free flights leaving Thailand to bring home holidaying Australians.

"There may be some people who are still not making arrangements to come home. I think they should because there is the risk of disease," he said.

"The chaos is so total in some of these areas that staying behind does risk the possibility of being caught up with infectious diseases."

A team of volunteers, including Dr John Hooper, the former head of the Fred Hollows Foundation, flew out of Sydney today for Sri Lanka where they will co-ordinate relief activities of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) Colombo.

Another group of doctors left for the Maldives and Colombo where they will be embedded with the World Health Organisation's infectious disease unit.

In the United States, President George W Bush confirmed his nation would join with India, Australia and Japan to co-ordinate worldwide relief and reconstruction efforts for the areas destroyed by the tsunami.

"We will stand with them as they start to rebuild their communities," he said.

Mr Howard said Australia was well placed to help Indonesia in its efforts, while the other three members of the group had close links to other nations recovering from the disaster.

Another 40 Australians returned home today on board a chartered Qantas jet.

Most praised the efforts of Thai officials, including Raeshell Tsang who was on her honeymoon in Phuket when the tsunami struck.

She said her relief at being home was tempered by the guilt of abandoning those who had been so kind to her.

"Part of me feels I should have been there for them," she told reporters.

- AAP