9,749 confirmed dead in India

According to a Home Ministry report, Tamil Nadu accounted for most of the human casualty with 7,814.

The official death toll in tsunami disaster has gone up to 9,479 with 28 more bodies recovered so far even though the number of missing persons has gone up to 5796, which is nearly 300 more than the figures issued by Home Ministry on Sunday.

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According to a status report of Home Ministry, Tamil Nadu accounted for most of the human casualty where the figure of those killed in the December 26 tsunami stood at 7,814.

Andaman and Nicobar Island, which has reported 818 deaths so far, has the largest number of missing persons where 5,681 inhabitants are still not accounted for, the report said.

It said that relief operations in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands was going on smoothly and the Government had hired a 12 metric tonne-capacity of an international cargo company for movement of relief material.

As many as 2,138 medical and disaster response teams had been mobilised by the Government out of which 19,852 had been deployed in various affected areas.

The report said that in Kerala, Army, Navy and Coast Guard were assisting the local administration and priority was being accorded to supply of fumigation and disinfectant in affected areas to avoid outbreak of epidemic.

In Tamil Nadu, Union Health Minister Ramdoss was camping at Chennai coordinating with the state government to prevent outbreak of epidemic.

In Andhra Pradesh all the relief camps had been shut as people had begun to resume their normal life.