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

A Government spokesman said that as at 12 noon today (January 17), the Immigration Department's hotline (2829 3010) had received 877 enquiries and 1422 requests for assistance.

Meanwhile, there remained 34 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 locations. Amongst them, 31 were reported to be in Thailand and three in Indonesia.

At the moment, there was no case involving Hong Kong residents whose family members have not provided the personal particulars or specific information on the last known locations of these residents.

As of today, a total of 12 Hong Kong residents were confirmed to have deceased. A Hong Kong resident of foreign nationality is currently hospitalized in Bangkok.

The multi-disciplinary support team from the HKSAR Government would continue to provide essential services to Hong Kong residents requiring assistance in Thailand. The deployment of the support team in Thailand would continue to be adjusted in the light of the latest situation.

Three round-the-clock telephone hotline services were still in operation. The hotlines are: 096471215 and 096471208 (for calling from Thailand) or Hong Kong number (852) 9038 6578.

Local Hong Kong residents may call the Immigration Department's hotline at 2829 3010 for assistance.

On the DNA database set up by the Thai authorities to help verify the identity of victims in the disaster, the spokesman said that Hong Kong Police continued to contact relatives of un-located Hong Kong people for the collection of DNA samples. The Police had so far taken samples from 27 family members of the unlocated persons.

A dedicated web page containing information on the tsunamis 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 total page view up to January 16 stood at 1 220 312.

The web page provides, with the consent of families concerned, information on the personal particulars of Hong Kong residents reported to have lost contact with their families. Hyperlinks had been established with the dedicated websites of Thai Government and Red Cross on the tsunamis.

The spokesman also advised the public to beware of suspected fraud e-mails soliciting donations to help South Asian people affected by the tsunamis. Reports on such mails can be made to the Police at 2860 5012.

Ends/Monday, January 17, 2005

NNNN