More than two hundred Hong Kong holidaymakers were still missing in the tsunami-hit Southeast Asia countries Tuesday as various sectors of SAR society stepped up efforts to render relief to tens of thousands of victims affected by the disaster.
And one Hong Kong man was confirmed dead in Phuket, Thailand, Tuesday.
The man's wife flew to the island after failing to contact him. She searched in hospitals and found his body in one of the morgues, according to the Immigration Department.
According to an earlier government release Tuesday, at least 213 Hong Kong tourists have not yet contacted their families.
About 170 of them went missing in Phuket Island in Thailand, ten in Sri Lanka and the remainder in the Maldives, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The total number of missing residents in those countries might be higher than the estimate because tourist information collected by the authority is not complete, Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang said Tuesday at a press conference.
"As some information we gathered is rather blurred and not comprehensive, we don't have the exact number on how many Hong Kong residents are still missing in those countries.
"The situation is that the number of residents who are missing or have casualties might be much more serious than what we thought," said Tsang, who has been appointed by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to help Hong Kong tourists to return home and co-ordinate relief work to the devastated area.
Tsang said the government has already published notices in the English-language media in the affected countries to call on locals to liaise with China embassies and consulates in these places.
According to Hong Kong Travel Industry Council, more than 1,000 Hong Kong people, in 30 to 40 groups, were in Phuket when the tsunami hit the island.
Most of them have returned to Hong Kong and the remaining 500 will return to Hong Kong in the coming few days.
About 64 local individual travellers have been located and returned to Hong Kong.
Tsang said there was no need to arrange a charter flight to bring stranded and injured travellers in Phuket back to Hong Kong as there are sufficient flights to bring them back.
From what the government knows, a total of 18 locals had been admitted to hospitals for injuries before most of them were discharged.
Tung said Tuesday that the government will do all it can to help stranded tourists -- including making arrangements for a chartered plane if necessary.
"We are deeply concerned about Hong Kong citizens injured or stranded in the areas hit by the disaster," he said.
He gave thanks for the full support given by the mother country and its embassies and consulates in the affected areas to the affected Hong Kong residents.
Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said Tuesday four more immigration officers have been sent in two batches to Phuket and Colombo in Sri Lanka respectively to assist and facilitate the safe return of Hong Kong residents affected by the tsunami.
Lee said the immigration officials will visit hospitals in the two countries to identify Hong Kong residents.
He said officials will help Hong Kong tourists who have lost their travel documents to obtain temporary papers and lend them money to buy plane tickets.
No resident will be prevented from returning home because of lost property, Lee vowed.
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow said a medical rescue team, with at least three doctors and three nurses, is on stand-by to be sent to affected countries and to provide medical treatment to injured Hong Kong people if necessary.
He added, however, that current information on injured Hong Kong residents meant there was "no need for us to send any medical rescue team over there at this stage".
The Clinical Psychology Units of the Social Welfare Department will open counselling services to people affected by the tsunami.
The travel industry council expected all remaining tourists in Phuket will return today.
There are sufficient flights to bring the tourists back and airlines have pledged to increase flights or use larger planes if the need arises, the council said.
Meanwhile, Tung pledged that Hong Kong will make every effort to provide assistance, in particular relief supplies, to the disaster-hit areas.
The government has already met with consul generals of Thailand, Indonesia, India and the Maldives in Hong Kong to assure them that the SAR government can provide relief materials to their countries.
The government has already received applications from several local aid organizations to use the government-run disaster relief fund to help the victims in the countries, with a maximum of HK$8 million in each application.
Tuesday, territory-wide donation activities and relief measures were mounted by aid organizations to pump donated funds and emergency-aid materials for the victims of the quake and tsunami.
Aid organizations in Hong Kong are gearing up to provide emergency aid support and provide relief materials to ease victims' livelihoods in affected countries, while political parties and community sectors have launched fund-raising activities.
Hong Kong Red Cross Tuesday raised about HK$20 million in donations from citizens and business sectors.
World Vision Hong Kong Tuesday dispatched an emergency relief team to visit Sri Lanka to assess the emergency measures and study what kinds of support Hong Kong can provide.
The aid organization's chief executive officer, Kelvin Chiu, said the top five issues to be addressed were water, sanitation, food, shelter and health.
Chiu said World Vision Hong Kong has planned to raise US$200,000 to purchase relief materials such as clothes, food and tents for victims in Sri Lanka and India.
The Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) will launch a territory-wide fund-raising activity at about 40 spots near MTRs and rail stations. The funds will be donated to Hong Kong Red Cross.
Tuesday, giant business corporations also made donations. Hong Kong Jockey Club has donated US$250,000 to Red Cross South East Asia Relief Fund and HSBC made a donation of US$1 million.
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and Li Ka Shing Foundation donated HK$24 million, while New World Group donated about HK$500,000.
Local aid organizations have appealed to the Hong Kong community for their donations in support of the emergency relief operation.
(China Daily HK Edition December 29, 2004)
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