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    HONG KONG, Dec. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll from an earthquake off Indonesia and tidal waves that it unleashed exceeded 14,000 Monday as officials reported deaths in seven countries in southern and southeastern Asia.

The death toll from an earthquake off Indonesia and tidal waves that it unleashed exceeded 14,000 Monday as officials reported deaths in seven countries in southern and southeastern Asia.

    Sri Lanka was hard hit with 4,813 people confirmed dead, 4,013 in government controlled area and 800 in LTTE controlled area, the country's military sources said Monday.

    In Indonesia, at least 4,448 people were killed as the country took the full force of the huge earthquake and tidal waves that swallowed entire coastal villages.

    At least 4,278 people were killed in southern India, the Press Trust of India reported.

    In southern Thailand at least 461 people were killed, including foreign tourists at famous seaside resorts.

    A total of 44 bodies of people, including many elderly and children, had been found by rescuers in the coastal areas of Penang, Kedah and Perlis states of Malaysia up to 9:00 a.m. local time, police said.

    Maldives and Bangladesh also reported deaths of more than 30 people.

The death toll is increasing as counting of bodies washed up on beaches is continuing while thousands were reported missing in seven countries in southern and southeastern Asia. Tens of thousands fled the coasts for higher ground, fearing aftershocks and further flood surges.

    Tsunamis triggered by the massive earthquake in Indonesia smashed into coastal areas of the Indian Ocean ring nations Sunday, destroying villages and flooding cities.

    The death toll is increasing as counting of bodies washed up on beaches is continuing while thousands were reported missing. Tens of thousands fled the coasts for higher ground, fearing aftershocks and further flood surges.

    Search and rescue operations for victims of the tidal waves which hit Penang and Kedah states Sunday will continue until the end of Monday, a Malaysian police chief said.

    Penang State Deputy Police Chief Mohd Ali Mohd Yusuf, when contacted by Xinhua, said that police and emergency aid units were carrying out 24-hour operations with about 200 members of search and rescue teams being deployed at two locations namely Batu Feringghi and Balik Pulau, the popular beaches in Penang island.

    "A troop from the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) with 120 ordinary policemen have been stationed at Batu Feringghi while 10 officers and 80 lower rank policemen are being assigned to Balik Pulau," he said.

    He said hundreds of residents living in the coastal areas in the two districts had also moved out of their homes temporarily.

A graphic with map of Asia summarising the destruction wrought by the earthquake and tidal wave: updates death toll; revises map to incorportate Maldives and other islands.(AFP)

    At the scene of devastation, two fishing boats were swept from their moorings off the beach to Tanjung Tokong Avenue, main coastal road in Penang. The sea waters swept more than 150 meters inland and destroyed some houses and other property.

    Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister of the state Abdul Rashid Abdullah said the state government had given out immediate aid to the victims of the tragedy.

    Sri Lanka has dispatched some 25,000 soldiers and 10 helicopters Monday to coastal areas to deliver aid and rescue teams.

    The helicopters were dropping medicine and rescue teams to areas not accessible by land, while soldiers were to help the local people in their rescue work.

    The powerful earthquake that shook off the cost of Indonesia's Aceh province on Sunday was the worst natural disaster after the 1883 eruption of Mountain Krakatau that killed 36,000 people in the country.

    Local hospitals in Aceh, some 2,000 km west of Jakarta, reported that bodies continue to arrive.

    "The latest data in the morning (Monday) may change anytime," said government spokesman Eddy Sofyan. Enditem