Some 10 bodies, which may be Japanese, have been found at a national park
in southeastern Sri Lanka, following massive tsunamis that hit coastal areas
across Asia on Sunday, Kyodo News reported Monday.
Meanwhile, Japan's Foreign Ministry said that around 10 Japanese, including
one of its officials who was on vacation, may have been caught in the tsunamis
on Thailand's resort island of Phuket.
At least three of the 10 missing in Phuket are adults, according to the
ministry.
The ministry is now working on confirming this information.
According to Reuters, 22 Japanese tourists may have been killed by the
tsunamis.
"We believe we have found the bodies of 22 Japanese tourists who were
stranded in Yala National Park," the news agency quoted Lalith Weeratunga,
secretary to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, as saying.
"There were a group of Japanese who were in Yala today," he was quoted. "We
are bringing the bodies to the morgue and Japanese embassy officials are going
to identify them."
