Japan said it would increase its funding pledge to $500 million from $30 million, making Japan the single largest contributor in the relief efforts.
Japan’s announcement comes one day after the United States raised its contribution from $35 million to $350 million.
On Saturday, U.S. military helicopters dropped relief supplies into parts of Indonesia’s hard-hit Aceh province virtually cut off from the rest of the world after a powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunamis claimed 80,000 lives in Indonesia — nearly half of the estimated total death toll so far.
Jan Engeland, U.N.’s emergency relief coordinator, said he expects the number of dead in Indonesia alone to grew from 80,000 to 100,000, based on estimates from agency workers in the field. That would bring the death toll to about 150,000.
