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A Government spokesman said that as at 12 noon today (January 21), the Immigration Department's hotline (2829 3010) had received 877 enquiries and 1425 requests for assistance.

Meanwhile, there remained 33 unlocated Hong Kong residents of whom 31 were reported to be in Thailand and two in Indonesia.

As of today, a total of 12 Hong Kong residents were confirmed to have deceased. At the moment, there was no Hong Kong resident known to remain hospitalized as a result of the tsunami disaster.

As the situation in Phuket has stabilized and in the light of falling demand for the service, the three round-the-clock telephone hotline services in Thailand would operate until mid-night this Saturday (January 22) and cease operation thereafter. The remaining four members of the HKSAR Government support team in Phuket would return to Hong Kong on Sunday, January 23.

The HKSARG would continue to follow up all outstanding cases and provide practical assistance to Hong Kong residents requiring assistance. 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 unlocated 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 20 stood at 1 240 283. 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/Friday, January 21, 2005

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