Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan toured Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged island of Sumatra and said he has never seen ``such utter destruction, mile after mile,'' as the U.S. military worked with relief groups to care for survivors.

``You wonder, where are the people, what happened to them?'' Annan said in Banda Aceh, one of the worst-hit areas on Indonesia's northern island Sumatra, according to a transcript provided by the UN.

Indonesia will need more than $2 billion to rebuild Aceh, according to the Finance Ministry, and the World Bank today pledged more than $300 million for the province. The Dec. 26 disaster killed an estimated 170,000 people across Asia and left 5 million homeless.

Asian, European and U.S. leaders agreed yesterday the UN should coordinate the world's biggest recovery operation. Countries pledged aid of almost $5 billion and Annan asked for almost $1 billion more in emergency funds to aid South Asian and East African nations hit by the tsunami.

The Group of Seven industrial nations agreed to allow the tsunami-stricken countries to postpone payments on their debts, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said today.

No Roads

``The lack of access by road is a key problem aid agencies face in the northern and western parts of Aceh,'' Chris Lom, a spokesman in the region for the International Organization for Migration, said today. Aceh, lying nearest the epicenter of the magnitude-9 earthquake that caused the tsunami, is a ``roadless'' area, said UN Emergency Coordinator Jan Egeland.

By contrast ``on the west coasts of Sumatra, the search for victims is still on-going, by air and using boats,'' said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. ``All the major cities have been reached.''

Indonesia's military campaign to end a rebellion in Aceh is hindering disaster relief efforts, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a letter dated yesterday and posted on its Web site asking Indonesia's president to lift restrictions on access to the region for humanitarian organizations.

170,000 Dead

Indonesia's deaths from the tsunami reached 113,306, according to Wahyu, an official at the Indonesian Social Welfare Ministry. That brings the toll in South Asian and East African countries to an estimated 170,000 people. The ministry today revised the death toll from 94,260.

There shouldn't be any large increase in the number of people killed, Yudhoyono said, denying reports by groups including the UN that said as many as 2 million people may be unaccounted for. Thirty-two people died during the evacuation after the tsunami, he said, and 3,622 are being treated in hospitals.

Leaders from Asia, Europe and the U.S., at a summit yesterday in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, agreed to the UN coordinating the international recovery operation. As well as asking the UN to lead the relief effort, the leaders agreed to build a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean. The UN earlier estimated there were 150,000 dead.

Addressing concerns about the use of assistance, Yudhoyono said he would issue guidelines ``so that it will be effectively used and will not be misused.''

Fatalities

The relief operation isn't ``even close to having any figures of how many people died, how many people are missing and how many people are severely affected'' in Sumatra, Egeland said yesterday in New York. Indonesia is the worst-hit country. Sri Lanka's known death toll is 30,615.

``An escalation in the number of deaths is almost a certainty,'' William Hyde, Jakarta-based emergency relief coordinator for the International Organization of Migration, said today. ``So much of the coastline couldn't be accessed.''

In the town of Meulaboh in Aceh, for instance, where thousands are waiting for aid, 99 percent of the bridges are gone and 60 percent of asphalt roads are awash with mud, Lom said.

U.S. Marine Lieutenant General Robert Blackman, who is coordinating the U.S. military response, said ``one of the longer- term concerns, besides the trauma-type casualties, is concerns with disease and epidemics.'' Poor water and sanitation can help spread malaria and cholera.

Better Understanding

Blackman, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon today by a telephone link from Utapao, Thailand, said the U.S. has deployed 17 Navy ships and one Coast Guard cutter, as well as 90 aircraft, to aid in the assistance effort.

Blackman said he hopes U.S. efforts help the people of the region ``better understand the generosity and compassion of the American people, and that in doing so we can improve relations and improve our opportunities here in the region for continued peace and stability.'' Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.

Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday said more than 14,000 U.S. soldiers are involved in the effort.

``The waves essentially came in and took out the infrastructure,'' Lom said. ``Helicopters are airdropping aid into the region now. But that's not a long-term solution because it costs $2,500 a hour to keep a helicopter in the air. The seas are very rough, making it tough for ships to deliver aid.''

Rebuilding

It will take as long as two years to rebuild basic health care services in Aceh, Samlee Plianbangchang, World Health Organization regional director for Southeast Asia, said in Bangkok today at a press briefing.

The relief operation, with the exception of Sumatra, will soon be able to provide blankets, tents, food and water to victims in other countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand and India, Egeland said.

The UN said the tsunami destroyed 3,000 fishing trawlers and 54,000 livestock in 500 coastal villages in Thailand, leaving 30,000 families without their livelihoods.

``Some of these fishing boats were also used to shuttle tourists,'' Hakan Bjorkman, deputy representative for the UN Development Program said in a statement. ``It's a double whammy for communities dependent on these boats for their livelihoods. We need to move from emergency relief to long-term rebuilding as soon as possible.''

The UN said the death toll in Thailand is 5,246, with 10,306 injured and 4,499 missing.

To contact the reporters on this story: Todd Zeranski in New York at tzeranski@bloomberg.net Naila Firdausi in Jakarta at nfirdausi@bloomberg.net; Shanthy Nambiar in Jakarta at snambiar1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 7, 2005 12:39 EST