Forty-three Chinese tourists remained missing in tsunami-hit Thailand' Phuket, an official of the Chinese Embassy to Thailand said on Wednesday.

Among the 43 missing tourists, five are from the Chinese mainland, 30 from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and eight from China's Taiwan Province, Pan Guangxue, a counselor of the embassy, said at the relief center in Phuket.

He said the Chinese Embassy is trying its best to search for them, and all the injured mainland tourists have been sent back to China for medical treatment.

So far, 486 mainland tourists have left Phuket for home and the rest will go back soon, he said.

More than 63,000 people were confirmed or presumed killed in Sunday's tsunamis triggered by a strong earthquake in the Indian Ocean.

According to China's Seismological Bureau, the earthquake, with a magnitude of 8.7 on the Ritcher scale, occurred at 06:58 a.m. local time (0058 GMT) Sunday off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The government of Sri Lanka said on Wednesday more than 21,715 people have been confirmed dead as rescue workers reported another 3,009 deaths from the quake-triggered tidal waves.

"We now have 21,715 people confirmed dead," said a social service officer of the state-run National Disaster Management Center.

He said more than 8,600 people also have been injured in the island nation which is one of the worst hit by the devastating tsunami, triggered by the most powerful quake in 40 years in the Indian Ocean on Sunday. The tremor sent high waves crashing onto Sri Lanka's eastern and southern shores.

Some 2,000 tourists, who had been trapped in the disaster-hit areas in Sri Lanka, have been evacuated to the capital city of Colombo Wednesday.

The Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) said it has been working with the government to send the foreign tourists home.

Those evacuated are taking shelter at hotels in Colombo and the SLTB had to assist some with their travel documents, which might have been lost during the evacuation.

So far 200 foreign tourists from different destinations have left the island nation, while 73 foreign tourists have been confirmed dead so far.

A shuttle service was launched Tuesday by the tourism board between Colombo and the affected coastal areas of Galle, Hikkaduwa and Bentota for the rescue mission.

The Indonesian Ministry of Health said Wednesday the country's death toll from the earthquake and the following tsunamis has climbed to over 30,000 so far.

As massive rescue work is still going on, more dead bodies would be discovered and there are at least 1,100 people listed missing, said the ministry.

India, another heavily-hit country, Wednesday reported a death toll of 9,233 with thousands of people still missing.

The death toll of 9,233 includes 4,000 in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, close to the epicenter of the Indonesian earthquake that produced the tsunamis, and another 4,500 in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The Thai Interior Ministry said Wednesday morning Thailand's death toll from the disaster has risen to 1,538 with more and more corpses discovered by rescue teams.

The ministry's special unit said some 9,000 people were also injured.

The latest update did not mention the number of missing people, which stood at around 1,200 on Tuesday night.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra earlier told reporters that he expected the death toll to reach over 2,000.

Many of the country's worst hit places are tourist destinations for foreign holiday-makers, such as Phuket Island, Phi Phi Island and Lak Island.

Therefore, a large number of the dead and missing are expected to be foreign tourists, though there is no official data as the percentage so far.

As rescue workers are racing against time in deal with the aftermath of the national catastrophe on Wednesday, more aid from the international community is pouring in those affected countries amid concerns of outbreaks of epidemics.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff announced Wednesday the country has increased its aid package to tsunami-affected countries in South Asia to 5 million NZ dollars (about US$3.55 million).

A 10-member team will also head to the hard-hit Thai tourist resort of Phuket to help authorities identify bodies.

The New Zealand government had earlier donated 500,000 NZ dollars (about US$355,000) to the Red Cross for aid, and a Royal New Zealand Air Force transport aircraft left Tuesday to work with the Australian air force on a relief mission.

Australia on Wednesday announced 25 million dollars (US$19.2 million) as new relief fund to help the tsunami-affected areas in Asia, bringing its total support to 35 million dollars (US$26.9 million).

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a press release that 10 million dollars (US$7.7 million) of the new aid, including food and water, shelter and clothing, medical care, emergency power and public health measures, will go to Indonesia. Another 5 million dollars (US$3.85 million) will go to Sri Lanka.

Downer said Australian non-governmental organizations will have 5 million of the new funding and another 5 million will be used to support international relief efforts in countries like Thailand and the Maldives.

The foreign minister also said that Australian civilian medical teams will be deployed to affected countries starting Thursday.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon announced on Wednesday the South Korean government will send additional US$1.6 million to the earthquake and tsunami affected Asian countries.

Seoul previously promised to donate US$600,000 to help those countries' rehabilitation.

(People's Daily Online December 29, 2004)