Death toll in Asian tsunami disaster at 273,000
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-05 15:34

The number of people believed to have perished in December's tsunamis stood at 273,435, more than two months after the disaster, as Indonesia again scaled down its number of missing.

Indonesia's latest figures showed a total of 220,172 people dead or missing, the National Disaster Relief Coordination Agency said.

The number of confirmed dead was 125,598 people while 94,574 people were listed as missing.

Coastal vegetation that died in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands during the tsunami disaster. The number of deaths in the catastrophe stands at 273,000 after Indonesia lowered its number of missing.[AFP/file]

Thailand's toll stood at 5,395 confirmed dead. A further 3,001 people are listed as missing, more than 1,000 of them foreigners.

The toll in Sri Lanka, which was second hardest hit by the catastrophe, was 30,957, according to the Centre for National Operations.

The number of people listed as missing was 5,637, but many were expected to be among those never formally identified, hurriedly buried and included in the confirmed death toll.

In neighbouring India, the official death toll was 10,749 with 5,640 still reported missing and feared dead.

Myanmar has said 61 people were killed in the tsunamis.

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

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

On the east coast of Africa, 298 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya. Relief workers have said they believe the figure for Somali fatalities to be exaggerated.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, making it the largest quake worldwide in four decades.

Death toll

Indonesia: 220,172

Sri Lanka: 30,957

India: 16,389

Thailand: 5,395

Maldives: 82

Malaysia: 68

Myanmar: 61

Bangladesh: 2

Somalia: 298

Tanzania: 10

Kenya: 1

Total: 273,435

* The figures include 94,574 listed as missing in Indonesia and 5,640 in India.

In addition, 3,001 people are listed as missing in Thailand and 5,637 in Sri Lanka but not included in the toll because of possible double counting.

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