Austria will fly the national flag at half mast Thursday to mourn victims in tsunami-hit South and Southeast Asian countries, Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said on Wednesday.

Schuessel told a news conference that Austria also expressed deep condolences to families of the victims.

Also on Wednesday, President Heinz Fischer visited a hospital in Vienna where some Austrian tourists wounded in the tragedy werebeing treated. The injured were escorted home in a special plane after the tsunami.

Authorities confirmed that five Austrians were reported dead and more than 20 missing. But a senior official from the Foreign Ministry said the death toll may rise to between 50 and 60.

The Interior Ministry said it had sent a team of experts to thedevastated areas to launch investigation and rescue operations.

On Sunday, an 8.7-magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean senthigh waves crashing onto the shores of coastal Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives and Bangladesh, and submerged villages and towns.

The death toll from the catastrophe has currently climbed to more than 80,000 and concerns have increased over possible epidemic outbreaks.