Hopes are fading for more than 300 people still registered missing after Monday's tsunami¹ in Indonesia, as the death toll² climbs to 394.

本周一印尼爆发的海啸已经导致394人死亡，另有超过300人下落不明，生还可能性极小。

Disaster official Ade Edward says the 3m (10ft) surge is likely to have carried many of the missing out to sea, or buried them in the sand.

The first major aid ships reached the worst-hit Mentawai Islands on Thursday.

The government has pledged millions of dollars for the relief effort（救灾工作） , but activists³ say more needs to be done.

Aid agencies said people on the islands still urgently needed to food and shelter, three days after a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake triggered the tsunami.

Indonesia is also struggling with the devastation⁴ caused by this week's eruption⁵ of Mount Merapi in central Java, which killed more than 30 people.

As the scale of the tsunami disaster became clear on Thursday, Mr Edward painted a bleak⁶（阴冷的，荒凉的） picture of the chances of finding more survivors⁷.

"Of those missing people we think two-thirds of them are probably dead, either swept out to sea or buried in the sand," he told the AFP news agency.

"When we flew over the area yesterday we saw many bodies. Heads and legs were sticking out（突出，坚持） of the sand, some of them were in the trees."

He estimated that a further 200 people may have been killed.

Indonesia's state-run news agency Antara reported that 468 houses had been completely destroyed by the wave.

Village chief Tasmin Saogo told the BBC's Indonesian service that the islanders have begun to bury their dead.

"In the village of Sadegugung, there aren't any body bags. In the end we just lifted them and we buried 95 people today," he said.

"There are still may bodies lying about, underneath⁸ coconut⁹ trees（椰子树） and in other places."