The death toll in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, hit by massive tsunami waves on Sunday morning, has climbed to more than 3,000, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Monday.

"More than 3,000 persons have been killed, it is now confirmed and the casualty may go up," PTI quoted a local police officer as saying.

He further said that the worst hit areas were the Car Nicobar and the Nancowrie group of islands and, the situation is so bad that the rescue teams have not yet reached these places.

Car Nicobar has a population of around 19,000 and Nancowrie nearly 18,000, he said.

Describing the situation as, very grim, he said the latest casualty figure was based on the bodies already recovered and those who were missing for more than 24 hours and were believed to be dead.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located on the east coast of India, bore the brunt of the giant tsunami waves triggered off by a powerful undersea earthquake off Indonesia's northern tip on Sunday morning.

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