BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — A Sumatran fisherman was discovered alive under his beached boat yesterday — the first survivor found in hard-hit Indonesia in three days.

The 24-year-old man, identified as Tengku Sofyan, was rushed to a hospital in Banda Aceh, where doctors gave him intravenous fluids. He could barely speak and had cuts on his body, doctors said.

"He's in extremely fragile condition, especially mentally," said Dr. Irwan Azwar, who treated the man.

Witnesses said Sofyan was at sea when the tsunami hit Dec. 26. His boat was tossed onto the beach at Lampulo, and he was trapped for a week and couldn't eat or drink anything, they said.

Powell doesn't expect many U.S. casualties

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday he did not expect large numbers of U.S. casualties from the tsunami, although "there are a lot of Americans we haven't heard from."

"There are several thousand" U.S. travelers whose whereabouts were unknown, Powell said. However, with only 15 U.S. deaths counted in a week, "I don't expect a huge number of American casualties," he added.

The State Department's "welfare and whereabouts" office has resolved hundreds of inquiries in the past week about the safety of Americans, according to one account.

Indonesia leader calls for warning system

JAKARTA, Indonesia — More than a week after tsunami struck the region, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced plans to work with the country's neighbors to establish an early warning system.

"Indonesia and other neighboring countries plan to set up an early warning to prevent natural disasters, including earthquake and tsunamis," Yudhoyono said. "This would be a kind of pre-emptive measure."

Most of the hardest-hit countries, including Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka had no warning system in place, although one exists for Pacific nations to the east. It was thought unnecessary because there had been no significant tsunami in the Indian Ocean since 1993.

Regional leaders were expected to endorse establishing such a system during a donors' conference Thursday in Jakarta.

Family dog led 7-year-old to safety

CHINNAKALAPET, India — The scruffy yellow dog was devoted to 7-year-old Dinakaran, following the boy to school every day. A week ago, it led him to safety after the boy became separated from his parents as they fled the tsunami.

Warned of the colossal waves, the boy's mother, Sangeeta, made a quick decision. She had three sons, but just two arms. She grabbed the two youngest and ran — reasoning that Dinakaran, the oldest, had the best chance of outrunning the giant waves.

Instead of following her, Dinakaran ran to the safest place he knew — the family's small, concrete-walled hut just 40 yards from shore.

The dog, named Selvakumar, ducked into the hut after the boy. Nipping and nudging, he did everything in his canine power to get the boy up the hill and away from the hut, which was soon to be destroyed.

"That dog grabbed me by the collar of my shirt," the boy said from under some trees at Pondicherry University, where the family waits for relief aid. "He dragged me out."

"That dog is my God," Sangeeta said yesterday.

Onlookers gawking at Thai carnage

BAN NAMKHEM, Thailand — After a day hauling bodies out of rubble, Naulchawee Ketsawad squatted beside the corpse of a baby girl and had her photograph taken. Unthinking, she smiles for the camera.

The sheer scale of the destruction and death along Thailand's southwest beaches revealed a darker side of human nature yesterday, with thousands of onlookers and volunteer workers like 29-year-old Naulchawee posing for a photo with history.

"I took it to keep in my memory forever," she said.

Last week's tsunami has stunned those who have witnessed its aftermath, but it also has got them reaching for their cameras and binoculars.

People come from hundreds of miles around to gawk at it.

"I am a tourist," said 18-year-old Jiradaj Jilajin after posing with his family in front of the gutted Sofitel Magic Lagoon Resort and Spa.