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A Government spokesman said today (January 2) that as at 12 noon today, the Immigration Department's hotline (2829 3010) had received a total of 877 enquiries and 1 104 requests for assistance.

As at noon today, there remained 60 cases in which the callers were able to provide the personal particulars of the residents concerned as well as some information about their last known location. Amongst them, 41 were reported to be in Thailand, one in Malaysia, one in Sri Lanka, seven in Indonesia and 10 in other places. The only case in Maldives mentioned yesterday has now been accounted for. So far, 518 residents in this category have either reestablished contact with their families or returned safely to Hong Kong.

In addition, there also remained 920 Hong Kong residents who might have been stranded in the areas affected by the tsunamis. The family members concerned have not provided the personal particulars or specific information on the last known locations of these residents. The Immigration Department is liaising with the caller in each of these cases to gather the required information for immediate follow-up actions.

As regards casualties involving Hong Kong residents, as at noon today, the Government has received two new reports on death tolls in Thailand involving a man and a woman. Once verified, the total death toll will increase from four to six. Meanwhile, a girl and a man are still hospitalized in Phuket.

The spokesman cautioned that the number of cases involving Hong Kong residents reported to have lost contact with their families in Hong Kong may increase following the end of the holiday period.

The spokesman appealed to employers and school heads to report to the Immigration Department hotline (2829 3010) if their employees or students failed to turn up to work or classes after the vacation which ends tomorrow.

On the multi-disciplinary support team from the HKSAR Government, the spokesman said that in addition to their presence in six major hospitals on the Phuket Island, a total of 16 police officers have been dispatched to Bangkok to locate Hong Kong residents. It is believed that some people injured in remote areas in Thailand might have been sent to hospitals in Bangkok for treatment.

Following the announcement of the Thai authorities to set up a DNA database to help verify the identity of victims in the disaster, the Hong Kong Police have started contacting relatives of unlocated Hong Kong people for the collection of DNA samples on a voluntary basis. Relevant DNA information will be sent to the Thai authorities for identification purpose.

As part of the procedure, oral swap and hair samples will be taken at Central Police Station at Arsenal Street, Wan Chai.

The spokesman emphasized that there was no need for Hong Kong residents to travel to Thailand solely for the purpose of giving their DNA samples to the Thai authorities.

The support team, with its command centre at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, is now operating three round-the-clock telephone hotlines 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.

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

The regularly updated web page 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 also provide information on the personal particulars of those Hong Kong residents reported to have lost contact with their families.

Following a report to the Police made by Oxfam yesterday, the spokesman also advised people to beware of a bogus e-mail message soliciting donations into a bank account in Cyprus to help South Asian people affected by the tsunamis.

Police are probing into the case. Those who have received such or similar email messages are urged to call the Police hotline at 2860 5012.

Ends/Sunday, January 2, 2005

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