NAIROBI, Dec. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior Somali government official said here Friday that the number of Somalis killed by deadly tidal waves that destroyed the Horn of Africa nation's shores has doubled to more than 200, while over 50,000 people are internally displaced.

    Somali presidential spokesman Yusuf Mohamed Ismail said most ofthe victims are from the Indian Ocean coastline of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, including the northeastern Hafun island that was hardest hit by the violent waves on Sunday.

    "More than 200 people have been confirmed dead due to tidal waves according to the information we received as of now, and morethan 50,000 people are internally displaced," Yusuf told Xinhua by telephone.

    "The dead is a total number of bodies that have been recovered and buried. Many are still missing and we are still looking forward to receiving more information from the ground," he added.

    The tsunamis hit the east African nation's shores after traveling thousands of kilometers across the Indian Ocean from thequake's epicenter.

    The tsunamis struck the Somali coast on Sunday as the effect ofa series of strong undersea Sumatra earthquakes hit the east African coast, initially claiming at least 132 lives in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya.

    The earthquake, measuring at 8.7 on the Richter Scale, was registered Sunday, west of the island of Sumatra, triggering tsunamis, or tidal waves, in south and Southeast Asia.

    At least 120,000 people in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand, Malaysia, among others, have been killed in the disaster.

    After being frustrated for days by washed-out roads, the relief agencies Thursday got its first delivery of 12 tons of food.

    The United Nations also launched its first aerial assessment of the entire Somali coastline in an attempt to identify other areas in need of help in the remote and largely lawless nation, which until recently had been without a government for more than a decade.

    "My colleagues in Hafun are telling me they don't even have words to describe it. It's a state of complete desolation," said Laura Melo, a Nairobi, Kenya-based spokeswoman for the World Food Program. "Everything is wrecked. There are boats in the middle of the town and even money in the streets. Ninety-five percent of the houses are destroyed. There are no roads left. There's nothing."

    "We need to see exactly what the situation is," Melo said. "The dimension of the crisis is unfolding only slowly because of the difficult access. But little by little we're having a clearer picture."

    She said damage around the Somali coastal capital, Mogadishu, appeared much less serious than on the country's northern coast "but we don't have very exact information as of yet."

    The newly elected Somali Prime Minister, Ali Mohammed Ghedi, is expected to arrive in Somalia on Friday to see for himself the devastation along the coast.

    "The damage was felt all along the southern part of Somalia," Ghedi, whose government is currently based in Kenya as the capitalis considered too dangerous for ministers, reportedly said.

    Because the Puntland region has suffered from years of drought followed by flooding and unusually cold temperatures, Melo said, the agency already had stocks of emergency relief food at the region's main port in Bossaso, making quick delivery to Hafun easier.

    In Kenya, authorities sealed off the beaches on Monday to prevent people from exposing themselves to the danger posed by the rushing waters. The beaches were later reopened.

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