Australian air force rescues tsunami refugees

BANDA ACEH - Australian air force staged an emotional mercy mission today, taking scores of tsunami survivors out of Indonesia's disaster-struck Aceh province.

The homeless and distraught refugees waited more than a day in heat and rain to board the flight to the safety of Medan, Sumatra's biggest city.

Having lost loved ones and almost all their possessions, they burst into smiles when they were finally crammed inside the RAAF C-130 Hercules at Banda Aceh airport.

"Thank you Australia. Thank you," Nita said as she walked up the ramp into the plane's cavernous hull and sat down on the floor. "With Australia's help we can start again."

More than 170 people were packed inside before takeoff.

"We don't think we have ever had this many people in this type of Herc before, so we think it's a record," ground crewman Carl said.

"What we're doing makes you feel pretty good," pilot Peter Stone said.

Earlier the No 37 squadron flight disgorged hundreds of boxes of water and food for international aid agency Doctors Without Borders. They also ferried in a search and rescue team from Mexico.

"We must wait here now until the disaster coordinators tell us where to go," said Daniel Flores Gheno, chief of the Brigada De Rescate Topos.

Tonnes of donated aid have started arriving quickly in Aceh after a slow start.

But logistical problems and the weather are hampering efforts to get it to those in need.

Stone said Indonesia's air traffic control network had been overwhelmed by the number of flights starting to arrive, including US navy helicopters bringing emergency rations to hard-hit communities on the isolated west coast of Indonesia's Aceh.

"The system is a bit bogged down," he said.

Commander Ted Williams of Squadron 131 from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on station off the Aceh coast said the pace of aid delivery was picking up as crews began to get familiar with conditions.

Crew chief Jeff Gareis said US Sea Hawk helicopters from the Sabrehawks squadron were delivering water and instant noddles.

"The people are just swarming as we come in," he said.

With infrastructure in ruins and many areas still cut off, relief workers are fighting an uphill battle to distribute the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of supplies pledged by the world community.

With up to 100,000 dead or missing and thousands more displaced in Indonesia alone, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed concern about the stagnant relief supplies during a tour of the province yesterday.

But he said he was delighted with the help he was receiving from Australia, including Prime Minister John Howard's planned attendance at a crisis summit in Jakarta on Thursday.

"I am very happy," Yudhoyono said. "I think the international contribution so far is quite proper."

- AAP