European toll still growing

European nations continue to count those killed in the Indian Ocean tsunami and officials here say more New Zealanders will eventually also be declared dead.

At present, two New Zealanders are confirmed dead, as well as one New Zealand-born Canadian citizen.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials said yesterday that while the most serious concerns were held for the safety of four New Zealanders, a "concentrated effort" was being made to determine the whereabouts of 11 others.

While a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said it was feared many of those would also be declared dead, Prime Minister Helen Clark said New Zealand was fortunate the numbers were not higher.

"It is nothing short of miraculous that the numbers killed and missing [from New Zealand] are very low compared with other nations," Helen Clark said.

"So the sorrow we have is magnified countless times over for other people."

Since the tsunami struck, 3748 people have been entered into the ministry's database, and of those 3067 have been confirmed alive and well.

The Red Cross call centre will remain open over the weekend, although calls will switch to an answerphone after hours.

Altogether nearly 9000 foreign tourists are dead, missing or unaccounted for after the Boxing Day tragedy.

Those listed as "missing" are people who were in areas hit by the tsunami.

Those "unaccounted for" had been travelling in the countries hit by the waves.

The figures were provided by the countries and regions affected.