Death toll in quake disaster tops 163,000

The death toll from the earthquake and tsunamis that devastated Indian Ocean coastlines last month rose to 163,338 on Thursday.

The death toll from the earthquake and tsunamis that devastated Indian Ocean coastlines last month rose to 163,338 on Thursday as Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka reported new deaths.

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Indonesia was hardest-hit by the December 26 quake and tsunamis, with 1,10,229 confirmed deaths and 12,132 people missing as of today, the social affairs ministry said.

In Sri Lanka, government figures showed the toll had risen by 11 to 30,893 while the number of those reported missing had come down by 50 to 6,038.

The death toll in Thailand stood at 5,313, but the number of missing continued to slip, down by 91 names to 3,254, including 1,063 foreigners.

Myanmar's Prime Minister Soe Win has said 59 people were killed in the tsunamis and more than 3,200 left homeless. This was down from the UN's estimated 90.

At least 82 people were killed and another 26 were missing in the Maldives, a government spokesman said.

Sixty-eight people were dead in Malaysia, most of them in Penang, according to police, while Bangladesh reported two deaths.

Fatalities also occurred on the east coast of Africa where 298 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya.