Relatives of Japanese tourists who went missing in Sri Lanka after Sunday's
quake-triggered tsunamis identified seven bodies Thursday, the Foreign Ministry
said.
The latest confirmation has brought the Japanese death toll in the disaster
to 14.
The relatives arrived earlier in the day in Sri Lanka to view bodies believed
to be those of Japanese citizens, which had been kept in Colombo.
The seven were among 12 Japanese tourists who went missing after the
tsunamis. Four of the 12 tourists remain missing, as one other body had already
been identified, according to the ministry.
They were on a package tour organized by Tairiku Ryoyu, a Tokyo-based travel
agency. Eight other Japanese on the tour survived the tsunamis.
In Thailand, one body found in Krabi has been identified as that of a
Japanese girl and five other bodies found on the resort island of Phuket have
been confirmed as those of Japanese citizens.