</FONT>http://cnn.aimtoday.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20050111%2F1150044509.htm&sc=1104&photoid=20050111KL102&phototerm=ari+afrizal&maxphotos=5
Tsunami Survivor Picked Up After 15 Days
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By JOCELYN GECKER
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - A tsunami survivor rescued after 15 days adrift in the Indian Ocean recounted Tuesday how he lived on coconuts that floated by, tearing them open with his teeth. Indonesia, meanwhile, said it hoped to ease the bottleneck of aid flights by opening a second airport north of Sumatra island.
Also Tuesday, Indonesia's military chief extended a new cease-fire offer to rebels in Aceh province, the region hit hardest by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 150,000 people across southern Asia.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://channels.aimtoday.com/news/bigpic.jsp?cap=ari+afrizal&photoid=20050111KL103.jpg&this=0&first=
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Rebels in the area welcomed the proposal made by Gen. Endriartono Sutarto during a news conference in Banda Aceh.
``We have to work together to help Aceh,'' Sutarto said.
The 21-year-old survivor, Ari Afrizal, was picked up Sunday by a container ship after being swept out to sea by the tsunami from a beachfront construction site in Aceh. He is the third Indonesian to be rescued and brought to Malaysia.
``The earthquake lasted about 15 minutes,'' Ari said after the ship docked at Port Klang near the capital of Kuala Lumpur. ``Then the waves came, big, big waves that slammed down hard on us.''
Ari, who appeared fit despite the ordeal, said he saw four of his friends grab pieces of debris or uprooted trees, ``but we drifted away from each other as the waves rolled us out further into the sea.''
For a while, he lay on a 5-foot-long plank, weak and exhausted.
``My throat was burning. The sun was hot. I had cuts all over my body. The salt water was stinging. I couldn't even find my voice to call out to other survivors. Eventually they all drifted away and I was all alone,'' he said in an interview with The Associated Press from his hospital bed.
``I prayed and prayed. I told God I don't want to die. ... I worried about my elderly parents and asked for a chance to take care of them. As if my prayers were answered, a broken (boat) floated toward me a few days later.''
He ended up staying on the listing boat for five days before spotting a large unmanned raft with a hut on it. He swam up to it and found a gallon bottle of water aboard.
On the 15th day, Ari said he awoke and saw the container ship bearing down on him. He attracted its attention by waving his shirt, whistling and shouting in Malay ``Tolong! Tolong!''
``Help! Help!''
The captain of the Al Yamamah, John Kennedy of New Zealand, said he was surprised to see ``a frail-looking man'' emerge from the hut of the raft.
Tsunami Survivor Picked Up After 15 Days
</FONT>
By JOCELYN GECKER
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - A tsunami survivor rescued after 15 days adrift in the Indian Ocean recounted Tuesday how he lived on coconuts that floated by, tearing them open with his teeth. Indonesia, meanwhile, said it hoped to ease the bottleneck of aid flights by opening a second airport north of Sumatra island.
Also Tuesday, Indonesia's military chief extended a new cease-fire offer to rebels in Aceh province, the region hit hardest by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 150,000 people across southern Asia.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://channels.aimtoday.com/news/bigpic.jsp?cap=ari+afrizal&photoid=20050111KL103.jpg&this=0&first=
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Rebels in the area welcomed the proposal made by Gen. Endriartono Sutarto during a news conference in Banda Aceh.
``We have to work together to help Aceh,'' Sutarto said.
The 21-year-old survivor, Ari Afrizal, was picked up Sunday by a container ship after being swept out to sea by the tsunami from a beachfront construction site in Aceh. He is the third Indonesian to be rescued and brought to Malaysia.
``The earthquake lasted about 15 minutes,'' Ari said after the ship docked at Port Klang near the capital of Kuala Lumpur. ``Then the waves came, big, big waves that slammed down hard on us.''
Ari, who appeared fit despite the ordeal, said he saw four of his friends grab pieces of debris or uprooted trees, ``but we drifted away from each other as the waves rolled us out further into the sea.''
For a while, he lay on a 5-foot-long plank, weak and exhausted.
``My throat was burning. The sun was hot. I had cuts all over my body. The salt water was stinging. I couldn't even find my voice to call out to other survivors. Eventually they all drifted away and I was all alone,'' he said in an interview with The Associated Press from his hospital bed.
``I prayed and prayed. I told God I don't want to die. ... I worried about my elderly parents and asked for a chance to take care of them. As if my prayers were answered, a broken (boat) floated toward me a few days later.''
He ended up staying on the listing boat for five days before spotting a large unmanned raft with a hut on it. He swam up to it and found a gallon bottle of water aboard.
On the 15th day, Ari said he awoke and saw the container ship bearing down on him. He attracted its attention by waving his shirt, whistling and shouting in Malay ``Tolong! Tolong!''
``Help! Help!''
The captain of the Al Yamamah, John Kennedy of New Zealand, said he was surprised to see ``a frail-looking man'' emerge from the hut of the raft.
