Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday offered condolences to families who lost loved ones in the tsunami disaster in South Asia, pledging that the central government will continue to render assistance.

"We wish to give our heartfelt condolences to those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who are catastrophically affected and let us grieve for those who have lost their lives in the disaster," Wen said. "The Chinese government, our overseas embassies and consulates care about them and will help them."

Wen was in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to attending a summit of international leaders to coordinate local aid operations and discuss an emergency warning system for the Indian Ocean.

As of noon yesterday, 59 people from Hong Kong, seven from the Chinese mainland and one from Macao were officially reported missing and 14 Chinese citizens were confirmed killed in the catastrophe, according to the official website of China's embassy in Thailand. Thirty-four of the missing were reported last seen in Thailand, 10 in Indonesia, one in Malaysia and 14 in other areas of the region.

In Hong Kong, Deputy Secretary for Security Michael Wong said the official death toll of residents of the special administrative region stood unchanged at nine, while the number of "potentially" missing residents dropped from 320 on Wednesday to 148 on Thursday.

There were no reports of Hong Kong residents missing in the Maldives or Sri Lanka.

Three foreign workers in Hong Kong -- one German and two Indonesians -- also remain missing.

A group of six social workers departed for Phuket yesterday to offer professional counseling to Hong Kong people searching for missing family members. The volunteers, who are experienced in providing services to people of different age groups, are scheduled to return next week.

The plight of the tsunami survivors appears to have left no heart untouched.

More than 760 prisoners in Hong Kong's high-security Stanley Prison, where some of the city's toughest criminals are locked up, chipped in to give HK$141,788 (US$18,178) after learning of the December 26 catastrophe, according to a wire report.

(China Daily January 7, 2005)