******************************************************

A Government spokesman said today (January 1) that as at 12 noon today, the Immigration Department's hotline (2829 3010) had received a total of 877 enquiries and 1 078 requests for assistance.

Of the 1 078 requests for assistance, 554 HK residents were reported to have lost contact with their families in HK. The callers in most of these cases were able to provide the personal particulars of the residents concerned as well as information about their last known location to the Immigration Department.

Of the above 554 residents, 443 have either reestablished contact with their families or returned safely to Hong Kong. There are 109 outstanding cases which Immigration Department will follow up. Amongst them, 74 were reported to be in Thailand, two in Malaysia, six in Sri Lanka, one in Maldives, 11 in Indonesia and 15 in other places.

In addition, callers also reported that 1 473 cases of Hong Kong residents who might be stranded in the areas affected by the tsunamis but were unable to provide the personal particulars of the residents concerned or specific information about their last known locations. The Immigration Department is in the process of liaising with the callers in respect of each of these cases to seek the information required for following these cases up expeditiously. As at noon today, 524 residents falling in this category have already been located, leaving the total number of outstanding cases to 949.

As regard casualties involving Hong Kong residents, as at 5 pm today, the total number of fatalities reported was four. One man and a girl are hospitalized in Bangkok and Phuket respectively.

The spokesman cautioned that the number of cases involving HK residents reported to have lost contact with their families in HK could see a rise following the end of the holiday period.

The spokesman appealed to employers to report to the Immigration Department hotline (2829 3010) if their employees failed to turn up to work after vacation.

As for schools, the Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) has issued a circular to all primary, secondary, special schools, kindergarten and international schools reminding school heads to pay particular attention on how to help students distressed by the sudden death of teacher, peer, family member in the recent tsunami disaster.

Reference materials for supporting distressed students have been uploaded on the EMB website and schools can also contact their respective Regional Educational Office if professional support is required for serious cases.

On the multi-disciplinary support team from the HKSAR Government, the spokesman said that three help desks at Bangkok International Airport, the Phuket International Airport and the co-ordination centre in Phuket are now operating round-the-clock.

Staff are also deployed at airline office counters and major hospitals to provide assistance to Hong Kong people there.

In addition, the Support team has sent two separate teams to Khao Lak and Krabi with a view to locating the whereabouts of Hong Kong residents reported to have lost connection.

The support team has also set up a command centre at the Royal Phuket City Hotel to oversee the entire operation.

Three telephone hotlines have been in operation for Hong Kong residents in Thailand to call for assistance. They are: 096471215 and 096471208 (for calling from Thailand) or Hong Kong number (852) 9038 6578.

For local Hong Kong residents, they are urged to call the Immigration Department's hotline (2829 3010) for assistance.

The Home Affairs Bureau and the Home Affairs Department (HAD) with the 18 District Officers have been supplementing the efforts of the Security Bureau and the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau by offering help to those who are in Hong Kong waiting anxiously for news about their family members who have travelled to the tsunami-hit areas. So far till this afternoon, they have established contact with 134 families and together with the Social Welfare Department (SWD) are providing assistance to them.

HAD and SWD have also set up a "help desk" at the Hong Kong International Airport to provide enquiry and referral services to those returning to Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the General Chinese Charities Fund under HAD's supervision has so far received one application and has approved a ceiling cash allowance of $8,000.

The 18 District Officers will contact those who have returned to Hong Kong. Residents in need of assistance can call the Home Affairs Department hotline 2835-1473. The department will follow up on their cases and provide referral services in accordance with their needs.

Information on the tsunamis incident can be browsed at a dedicated web page which can be accessed through hyperlink at the Government homepage (www.info.gov.hk) or the Immigration Department's web page (www.immd.gov.hk).

The web page, to be updated regularly, contains hotlines of Chinese embassies and consulates in the tsunami-hit areas, concerned HKSAR Government departments, information assistance rendered and press releases.

With the consent of the families concerned, the web page will also provide information on the personal particulars of those Hong Kong residents who have reportedly lost contact with their families. Information on the first batch of unlocated persons was uploaded at 7 pm today. It is hoped that this would help to locate their whereabouts.

Ends/Saturday, January 1, 2005

NNNN

Real Media (Floor / Cantonese / Putonghua / English)
Windows Media (Floor / Cantonese / Putonghua / English )