15,000 may have died in Andamans alone

Panic gripped Andaman and Nicobar Islands as inhabitants rushed to safer places after authorities sounded an alert of high waves lashing the shore four days after the tsunami struck south Asia.

Lt Governor Ram Kapse said according to the alert high waves may hit the islands around noon and people in low-lying areas were advised to move to safer places.

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Meanwhile, large-scale relief and rescue operations continued in full swing by civil and military personnel.

Navy ships and AN-32 aircraft were evacuating people from the devastated Nicobar and Hudway islands.

Around 1,100 people have so far been brought to port Blair from Hudway island and the process is continuing, a senior official involved in the operation said.

Unconfirmed reports from various affected islands said that as many as 15,000 people may have been killed with Car Nicobar accounting for majority of them.

Confusion, however, still prevailed about the number of casualties as the local administration confirmed that only 309 bodies had been recovered so far.

Lt Governor Ram Kapse, however, admitted that as many as 10,000 people, almost half the population of the Car Nicobar island, were still missing.