NEW DELHI, Dec. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Over a thousand people have been killed in tidal waves in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Andamand and Nicobar Islamabd in south India, Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said here on Sunday.

    He told reporters after a meeting of the Crisis Management group that Tamil Nadu was the "worst affected" with possibly over 800 people killed.

    In Andhra Pradesh, over 200 people were feared killed, he said.

    In Andaman, as many as 14 people were killed, the Home Ministersaid, adding that the damage due to the tidal wave in Car Nicobar and Greater Andamans was "higher" but details were yet to come in due to snapping of communication links.

    Patil said that coastal areas of West Bengal had also suffered damage but he had not been able to contact Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya as yet.

    He said he is likely to visit the affected areas either Sunday evening or Monday.

    Patil said thousands of people have been evacuated from the affected areas. He said the priority was to provide relief to the victims including food, medicines and blankets.

    Authorities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were carrying out relief and rescue operation on a war footing, the home minister added.

    The central government will do all that is necessary to mitigate the suffering of the people and provide relief, he stressed.

    Tremors lasting less than a minute were felt shortly before 7:00 a.m. and the sea water began rising soon afterwards, washing away beach houses on the Madras coast and crashing onto the road in some parts.

    The quake in Indonesia's Sumatra island measured 8.5 on the Richter scale. Enditem