Volunteers Sort Food, Bury Dead In South Asia

While world leaders Thursday grappled with ways to spend $4 billion pledged for relief in south Asia, that relief effort was in full-swing. Volunteers heaved bags of rice and instant noodles into trucks heading for hard-hit Sumatra in Indonesia.

U.S. helicopters loaded with supplies set off for isolated communities.

The confirmed death toll now stands at 140,000 from the Dec. 26 earthquake in the Indian Ocean that spurred tsunamis that hit several countries.

The World Health Organization said that if safe drinking water isn't restored by the end of the week, tens of thousands of people could die. The agency called for $66 million to address urgent public health needs.

The United Nations said that for the moment, the threat of an outbreak of waterborne disease is being held in check. There are cases of diarrhea, respiratory and skin diseases and mental trauma, but there have been no major outbreaks of disease in Sumatra's devastated Aceh region.

The WHO is applauding the worldwide response to the problem.

"It is clear that not one family in Aceh has been left untouched by this terrible event," said Dr. Lee Jong-wook, the agency's director-general. "But the spirit with which people are responding is extraordinary. Already, people are looking to the longer term and planning how they can reconstruct not just their homes but their communities."

Around Banda Aceh, aid workers are covering their faces with masks to ward off the stench of rotting corpses. They are picking up bodies and dumping them in trucks bound for mass graves.

At a military air strip in Banda Aceh, hundreds of workers were sorting through thousands of boxes of food and baby milk.

One worker said it looks like a mess, but he called it "orderly chaos."

Meanwhile, the Pentagon's fleet of ships, aircraft and other military resources to help the tsunami relief effort is costing about $6 million a day.

That covers a U.S. contingent of about 13,000 military personnel, most of them aboard 17 Navy ships in the region. It's possibly the largest humanitarian aid contribution in history.

The latest ship to join the effort is a hospital ship that set sail last night from San Diego. It's staffed to support 250 patient beds but could be expanded to 1,000.

The biggest share of the cost is for the USS Abraham Lincoln battle group, the first Navy group to arrive on the scene last week.

Also Thursday, the U.S. Congress has passed a bill aimed at promoting private donations to victims of the tsunamis, even if they have been made after the new year. The bill now goes to President George W. Bush for his signature.

If it passes, it means that people who gave money this month to tsunami relief will be able to deduct it when they file their 2004 tax returns.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. Max Baucus of Montana said it will give Americans an extra incentive to support the relief cause.

Fate Of Thousands Of Americans Unknown

The State Department said Thursday that it's not clear exactly how many Americans may be lost in last week's tsunamis that hit south Asia.

Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, told CBS that some 2,600 Americans may have been in the tsunamis' path. That was down from 2,900 the department stated Wednesday.

Harty also said 17 are known dead and another 18 are missing and presumed dead. That's one more death than had been stated earlier and two fewer missing.

She offered no explanation for the changed numbers.

The department declined to estimate how many Americans may have died. And, many officials said the majority of those still unaccounted for may have simply failed to get in touch with relatives.

Radical Islamic Militants Set Up Refugee Camp In Sumatra

There's a new potential danger on the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian island of Sumatra.

A group of radical Islamic militants once led by a man with links to al-Qaida has set up a refugee camp in Sumatra.

The militants insist they will not interfere with foreign troops as long as the mission is humanitarian. American and Australian troops are helping tsunami survivors there.

The radical Islamic militants are known for attacking Christians in Indonesia's remote islands.

Gawkers Explore Tsunamis' Wake

Like motorists driving by an accident, some people in south Asia can't help but pause and stare at the disaster wrought by last week's tsunamis.

Some tourists are doing considerably more than rubbernecking.

One British tourist said he raced on a motorcycle to watch the recovery efforts at a grocery store in Thailand where victims were believed to be buried. He said back home, the area would be declared a disaster zone and would be "cordoned off with military everywhere."

Others were riding through areas, steering motorbikes with one hand and using a video recorder in the other.

It's not just tourists. Hundreds of villagers turned out in a one town to watch rescue crews drag bodies out of newly formed lakes.

Aid Operation In Indonesia Called Chaotic

Relief supplies are flowing into Banda Aceh, Indonesia, but one U.N. aid official worried the help won't reach the people who need it most.

Charlie Higgins said it's believed some 800,000 people are in need of emergency assistance. But he said officials "don't have great detail about where the people are and how to assist them."

There are also concerns over logistical and political hurdles.

The long-running conflict between separatist rebels and government troops in the Aceh province could complicate the relief effort. Another fear is that money and goods may be stolen by corrupt officials in the region.

World Leaders Call For Tsunami Warning System

Thailand's foreign minister said Thursday that countries in South Asia can't remain "so vulnerable and so exposed."

The official was among world leaders at an emergency meeting in Indonesia, where they promised to build a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean as quickly as possible.

The Thai official said that an advance warning of 10 minutes could have saved many lives.

Japan said it will offer technical help to set up the warning system. Japan has one of the world's most advanced networks of fiber-optic sensors, which can warn of a deadly tsunami within two minutes of a quake.

Also at Thursday's meeting, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan urged nations to immediately provide billions of dollars in promised aid.

He said "whole communities have disappeared," and millions of people were suffering unimaginable trauma.