The number of people killed or fear killed in the tsunamis that struck India last Sunday rose sharply to 14,488 on Sunday.
Reports quoted a Home Ministry statement saying that the rise was due to a jump in the numbers missing and presumed dead in the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, from 3,754 to 5,421.
On Saturday, the death toll due to the devastation caused by the tsunami waves in the country was quoted as 8,955 in an official report released in New Delhi.
The number of dead, which was 7,763 on Friday, rose primarily due to the recovery of about 1,100 bodies on Friday in Nagapattinam, secretary (disaster management) A K Rastogi had told reporters in New Delhi.
He said the number of those missing was over 3,850 - 3,754 in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 109 in Andhra Pradesh and two in Kerala.
"The aboriginal Jarawa tribals based in middle and south Andamans are safe in their habitat," he said. Their population, which was 240 in the 2001 census, has now risen to 266, he added.
