The Danish Red Cross will coordinate the international organisation's emergency aid effort in the worst-hit area of Indonesia, Ritzau news bureau reported onMonday.

The Danish Red Cross has been assigned the task of running the headquarters for Red Cross relief operations for most of the devastated Aceh province of Indonesia.

"We're responsible for communications in the area. We already had some information technology people in the area, so now we can proceed with setting up the Red Cross headquarters," said Danish Red Cross general secretary Jorgen Poulsen.

Indonesian health authorities reported Sunday that the tidal wave may have killed 100,000 people in the Aceh province, which lies on the northern part of Sumatra.

According to Jorgen Poulsen, Aceh may require years of assistance to become a fully functional region again.

"We're hard at work on the most acute needs such as clean waterand sanitation which are important to prevent the spread of deadlywater-borne diseases," he said.

Poulsen said it is important for disease prevention to bury bodies as quickly as possible.

Poulsen expected the need for acute aid to continue for some time as 80 percent of the coastal road, the main means of transport,was washed away. Some areas have yet to receive aid since they can only be reached by helicopter, which carry a limited load.