The confirmed number of Hong Kong residents killed in the south Asia tsunamis remained at eight as Hong Kong government was verifying a media report about the death of a French family of three, the government said Tuesday.

Deputy Secretary for Security Michael Wong said they had contacted the source of the report and verification was in progress as the report concerned was relayed by colleagues, not relatives of the family.

As on Tuesday noon, five Hong Kong residents were known to be in hospital in Thailand, including a French couple and a Filipino girl in Phuket and two British nationals in Bangkok.

Wong said following the earlier appeal to employers, eight employees had been reported missing after the holidays. Of them, three were later confirmed safe while five were being followed up.

Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower YC Cheng said that by 3 PM on Tuesday, the number of schools with reports of missing teachers and students remained unchanged at eight.

There were still 58 students from 26 schools who cannot be contacted, and these cases have been passed to the Security Bureau to follow-up.

Cheng said the Education and Manpower Bureau had sent educational psychologists and school development officers to seven schools to offer assistance.

At noon on Tuesday, 70 Hong Kong residents still could not be reached. Of them, 33 were reported to be in Thailand, two in Malaysia, 10 in Indonesia and 25 in other places.

Wong reiterated there were no Hong Kong residents known to be in Sri Lanka or the Maldives.

Meanwhile, 549 people were reportedly stranded in the affected areas. The number dropped 321 from Monday as many had either been contacted or returned to Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2005)