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The death toll of Hong Kong residents in the tsunami disaster rose to 10 yesterday, with the recovery of the body of an American Chinese woman.
Her body has already been shipped back to her family in the United States, Deputy Secretary for Security Michael Wong said.
The number of missing Hong Kong residents yesterday fell from 59 to 58, 33 of who were last reported to be in Thailand, nine in Indonesia, one in Malaysia and 15 in other parts of the region.
The number of "potentially" missing, however, rose from 148 to 153. These are people who have not been seen since the Boxing Day, but it's not certain if they had gone to any of the tsunami-hit areas.
Three more employers have reported that they haven't seen three of their employees since that fateful December Sunday, Wong said. This raises the number of employees remaining unaccounted for to six. Two residents were still being treated at hospitals.
Thirty more task force members returned yesterday, leaving about 60 in Thailand. They would, Wong said, continue to look for missing Hong Kong residents in that country and provide help to those already identified.
"For example, our three hotlines will be open," he said. The hotlines are: 66-96-471-215 and 66-96-471-208 in Thailand and 9038-6578 in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong continued its efforts to reach relief to the survivors by sending a plane, carrying 76 tons of bottled water, tents, blankets and torches to Jakarta last night.
The flight, offered free of cost by Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited, is scheduled to reach the Indonesian capital early on Saturday morning.
Indonesia's Consul-General Paiman Turnip said his country was grateful for the support of the SAR government and the two companies that facilitated the speedy delivery of the shipment.
A government spokesman said the SAR was also liaising with the government of other devastated countries to map out logistics to provide timely emergency aid to the victims.
"The direct shipments at the government-to-government level have been made possible under a special mechanism set up by the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee for this major disaster," he said.
A total of HK$8 million has been earmarked as aid, the spokesman said, and more would be given if needed by the ravaged countries.
The government received HK$5-million worth of fresh donations from more than 30 transport companies and trade associations.
Commissioner for Transport Robert Footman said the donations "demonstrated a strong sense of solidarity within the transport trade and the entire community to lend a helping hand to the tsunami victims and their families.
"Every dollar you donate will surely be put to good use to help the victims to recover from the disaster," he said.
(China Daily HK Edition January 8, 2005)
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