Over 800 people died here and more than 500 were injured in thetsunamis Sunday, announced local police in the Galle general hospital Monday.

Galle, a tourist city some 100 kilometers south of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, is one of the places in this island country hit most by a worst tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake in Indonesia.

Indika Desilva, a police officer who has been on duty since Sunday morning in the Galle general hospital, told Xinhua that around 2,500 people are still missing in Galle district.

There are some 30 bodies still lying in the hospital by Monday afternoon and the police said more than 700 dead have already beentaken away by tractors for burials.

Some local residents are looking around the hospital ground to identify the body of their loved ones. Most of them have to cover their nose and mouth with cloth or tissue papers to block off the odor of the decomposing bodies.

A young Singaporean is shedding tears beside a pushcart carrying the small body of his baby in the aisle of the hospital.

Sad voices of college student volunteers could be heard throughloudspeakers in the city, calling continuously and desperately forthe missing people who might have been already swept away by the tidal waves to "contact their families."

"We offer help to dead people's family, we give them food and clothes. I wish this not happen again," said Asanka Maddnma Arachch, a student volunteer who announced the missing list by turns with other volunteers.

The beach of the city is the worst damaged place where all the buildings, huts, shelter or houses, are all in complete ruins.

"The first wave came at about 9:30 Sunday morning and most of the houses in the seaside were damaged at that moment," said K.K.S.Jajantha. His two brothers' houses were both destroyed by the tidal waves while the ground floor of his own two-story house was also inundated.

There are only a couple of policemen standing some distance away. Residents said the policemen came after several cases of plundering were reported.

"More policemen are being called in from stations in the other unaffected areas," according to Kapila Manayakkara, a police officer from Ratnapura, about 100 kilometers north-east of Galle.

People are looking hopelessly at their ruined buildings or damaged households as a way to keep an eye on whatever is left since most of them are very poor fishermen. They would need what is left to re-start their life after the disaster.

Not much relief goods have arrived yet due to hampered transportation and communications. Most of the surviving people have to use the nearby temples as shelters. Some monks are providing drinks for local displaced residents.

However, drinking water is still drinkable and no contaminationhas been found, according to the police.

"My wife and my sons were whirled away by the floods," mid-agedD. G. Lal told Xinhua crying loudly. He added many vehicles near the sea were washed away "like leaves," and one of them "with 17 people on it disappeared in no time."

P.B. Dharmasiri, a painter whose seaside house collapsed totally said he hopes the government give him a piece of land far from the sea. "I don't mind how small it would be," Dharmasiri said with tears.

A 24-year-old man working for a local hotel pointed to a seaside marsh and told Xinhua that some bodies were still buried inside the marsh. He said its too dangerous to go inside to recover the bodies.

Samantha Wijetunga, a self-employed mini bus driver lost his bus during the tsunamis. Pointing to his seriously damaged bus leaning against a tree, Wijetunga said he did not insure his 2.4 million rupee (about 23,000 US dollars) bus and he does not have money to tow out his bus for repairs.

Galle is a city of death and tears. No people dare to walk any closer to the sea side yet as threatening tides still surge high after Sunday's killing tsunamis.