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Tsunami kills 22,477, Taiwan tourist dies
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-27 20:26
The death toll in the massive tsunamis triggered by a magnitude 8.7
earthquake in South and Southeast Asia on Sunday has reached 22,477. Following
are the figures reported from some countries:
Country Deaths
Sri Lanka 10,029
Indonesia 4,725
India 6,800
Thailand 839
Malaysia 42
Maldives 32
Myanmar 10
The numbers are based on local official and media reports as of 1100 GMT
Monday and they are subject to continuos updating.
Travel warning
National Tourism Administration (NTA) said Monday travel agencies should be
very cautious of arranging travel packages to Southeast Asia nations ravaged by
devastating earthquake and tsunami Sunday.
Video grab shows a
tidal wave in Penang after tsunami waves hit southern Asia on Sunday in
this amateur video footage taken December 26, 2004.
[Reuters] |
Currently, there are approximately
1,000 stranded Chinese tourists in Phuket island of Thailand and Maldives, an
NTA official told Xinhua earlier Monday.
The national administration has relayed the acute, detailed information about
tourists they had pooled from main such travel ports as Beijing, Shanghai and
southern Guangdong Province to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
relevant offices shortly after learning the quake rocked Southeast Asian
nations, the official noted.
Tourism administrations at all levels will work closely with these travel
agencies, the official said.
Moreover, the China International Travel Service (CITS) told Xinhua that the
tourists in their travel packages to Southeast Asia are all secure.
Monday's Beijing Daily say six leading travel agencies in the national
capital of Beijing reported their 300-strong tourists safe and sound in
Southeast Asian countries.
Yang Weihong, manager of Southeast Asia travel of China Travel International
(CTI) in Beijing, was quoted as saying that the agency is ready to cancel all
the travel packages to Southeast Asia nations, which are scheduled to set off
Wednesday, and to return all the fees collected to applicants for overseas
trips.
Hot line set up
Chinese Foreign Ministry set up a hot line, 86-10-65963511, Monday to help
the public learn information about their Chinese relatives and friends in South
and Southeast Asian areas affected by earthquake and tsunamis.
One tourist from China's island province of Taiwan has been confirmed dead in
tsunami-hit Thailand, according Foreign Ministry sources. No other casualty of
Chinese citizen in the disaster-hit areas was reported.
The Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates in the affected
countries are taking immediate actions to extend assistance to Chinese citizens
in those areas.
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