Tsunami toll jumps to nearly 220 000

The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Indian Ocean nations rose to nearly 220 000 on Wednesday with another 50 000 deaths reported by Indonesia’s health ministry.

Indonesia was hardest hit by the December 26 quake and tsunamis, with 166 320 confirmed deaths, the health ministry said, raising the toll by more than 50 000 from the government’s previous tally.

Thailand’s tsunami death toll crept up to 5 323 confirmed dead. The interior ministry removed nine names from the list of people reported missing after the disaster, bringing the total to 3 115.

On the list of missing people, 2 101 are believed to be Thais and 1 014 foreigners, the ministry’s disaster-management unit said in a statement.

The death toll in Sri Lanka, which was second hardest hit by the catastrophe, stands at 30 920, according to the Centre for National Operations. The number of missing has dropped to 5 565.

In neighbouring India, the official death toll edged up to 10 744, with 5 669 still reported missing and feared dead.

Myanmar’s Prime Minister Soe Win has said 59 people were killed in the tsunamis, against an estimated 90 deaths according to the United Nations.

At least 82 people were killed and another 26 are missing in the Maldives.

Sixty-eight people were dead in Malaysia, most of them in Penang, according to police, while Bangladesh reported two deaths.

Fatalities also occurred in East Africa, where 298 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya.

Nine South Africans still missing

Nine South Africans remained missing or unaccounted for by Wednesday afternoon following the December 26 Asian tsunamis, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in Pretoria.

The number of people considered unaccounted for dropped by half from 10 on Tuesday, as five people were located ”safe and sound” on Wednesday, it said in a statement.

People listed as unaccounted for are believed to have been in the area when the giant waves struck, and have not been traced since. But they are not yet considered to be officially missing.

Those on the official missing list, feared dead, remained at four by Wednesday.

”In this regard, the ministry is awaiting the outcome of DNA processing initiated by the Thailand authorities for utilisation in the victim-identification process,” the statement said.

The foreign ministry’s consular services, working with affected families, have managed in the past three weeks to trace 2 900 individuals initially unaccounted for in the tsunami-stricken region, the department said.

Of those, 11 have been confirmed dead.

”In the meantime, the foreign ministry will continue to work with [the international police agency] Interpol with a view to tracking down all missing and unaccounted for South Africans.”

The department expressed gratitude to affected families and members of the public for their assistance in tracing missing South Africans. — AFP, Sapa

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