BEIJING, Dec. 29 -- UN officials said the disaster could be the costliest in history. Ambassadors of the devastated countries appealed for more humanitarian aid.

    

UN continues its efforts to aid Asian tsunami survivors, focusing on providing clean drinking water and health care. (Photo source: yahoo.com)

Representatives from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Maldives, Malaysia and Myanmar met top UN officials on Tuesday.

    The only affected nations not present were Bangladesh and Somalia.

    Numbers of dead and injured and exact needs of each individual country were shared during the conference.

    Jan Egeland, UN undersecretary-general of humanitarian affairs, said: "The cost of the devastation will be in billions of dollars, it will probably be many billions of dollars."

    The top UN aid coordinator also clarified his comments on Monday when he called rich nations "stingy" with donations.

    Jan Egeland also said: "I have been misinterpreted when I yesterday said my belief that rich countries in general can be more generous, this has nothing to do with any particular country or the response to this emergency. We are in early days and the response has so far been overwhelmingly positive."

    The UN says it's focusing its immediate aid efforts on Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand and Somalia, with nations like India and Malaysia coping quite well with emergency humanitarian needs on their own.

    Meantime in Brussels, EU officials cautioned that any delay between emergency aid and the reconstruction help could result in yet more loss of lives.

    This concern was echoed by world health experts who have warned that disease in the aftermath of the catastrophe could ultimately double the death toll from the tsunami itself.

    (cctv.com)