Stranded Hercules finally arrives in Banda Aceh

BANDA ACEH - New Zealand's Hercules C-130 returned to Banda Aceh today, delivering aid to the tsunami-devastated city in northern Indonesia.

The scheduled flight on Friday had to be cancelled and the plane remained grounded until a spare part arrived from New Zealand.

After two days of frustration the plane flew from Jakarta, touching down in Banda Aceh in the early hours of the morning (New Zealand time), carrying food and medical supplies and other aid.

Across town a New Zealand medical team began their first day cleaning up part of Banda Aceh Public Hospital.

The 30-strong team has been allocated three buildings inside the sprawling complex to set up a surgical unit.

They have a long task ahead and the first floor is filled with sludge, rubbish and human waste.

It is estimated it will take two days to clean the hospital up and start treating the many thousands of as yet untreated injured people.

The only working hospital in Banda Aceh has had to stop taking patients because it has been overcrowded.

New Zealanders have been working alongside Indonesians, Germans and Pakistanis, and an Australian military health company has opened a minor surgery unit near the hospital entrance to try and clear some of the backlog.

Two weeks after the disaster, aid workers and the military face a mammoth task in the town and in the outlying coastal region, which is difficult to get assistance to.

At the airport, planes bring in pallets of aid creating a mountain of supplies that are waiting to be distributed to the outlying areas.

At the same time the New Zealand Hercules arrived, more planes arrived carrying soldiers and aid workers from around the world.

To make matters more miserable, there is steady rain in Banda Aceh, turning already sodden streets into a quagmire.

Buildings remain in ruins and there is no power to much of the city. However, there are signs of normality elsewhere.

Late night food stalls were open selling fruit and vegetables tonight, and elsewhere people gathered around and watched a football match on TV while next to them buildings lay in ruins -- untouched after more than 14 days.

There have been reports of shootings. However, the streets appear peaceful.

- NZPA