Eight Australians dead, eight missing in tsunami

SYDNEY - Eight Australians, including two young children, have been confirmed dead and another eight were missing in the devastating tsunami waves which killed up to 60,000 across Asia, officials said on Wednesday.

Seven of the eight Australians killed perished in Thailand and one in Sri Lanka, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said. A DFAT spokeswoman said the eighth Australian confirmed dead was a 59-year-old man from Queensland.

Two missing Australians had been accounted for but serious concerns were held for another eight who were still missing.

The dead included 16-year-old Paul Giardina, who suffered from Down Syndrome. He became separated from his parents when a wave hit a restaurant as they ate breakfast at Patong Beach in Thailand's Phuket.

A six-month-old girl identified as Melina Heppell also died after she was ripped from her parents' arms in Phuket.

A three-year-old-girl from New South Wales state and two men, aged 52 and 54, from Queensland were also killed. An 81-year-old woman, described as a permanent Australian resident, also died.

Most of the missing are in Thailand, DFAT said.

There were an estimated 7000 Australians in areas hit by the massive, quake-generated waves, most of them in Thailand.

An emergency hotline set up by the department had been swamped with thousands of calls and consular staff were providing assistance to hundreds of Australians across the region.

Australia on Monday committed an initial aid contribution of A$10 million ($10.9 million) to the relief efforts. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said that amount will almost certainly rise.

Four Australian military transport planes carrying emergency assistance and medical teams have been sent to Sumatra in western Indonesia.

Prime Minister John Howard said on Tuesday that a plane provided by a commercial carrier carrying another two 15-member emergency medical teams as well as a 12-strong team of police had left for Phuket.

The police team includes pathologists, disaster victim identification specialists and forensic dentists, some of whom worked in Indonesia after nightclub blasts in October 2002 which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

- REUTERS