COLOMBO, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- A Sri Lankan official said Saturday that the government has issued death certificates to over 5,000 people who had succumbed to the killer tsunami last month.

    Registrar General LK Ratnasiri said that the certificates wouldbe important for the next of kin of the deceased to lay claims to their properties, belongings and insurance claims etc.

    The Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunamis which devastated Sri Lanka's south and northeastern coastal areas brought massive destruction to lives and property in the country.

    The government's Center for National Operations said nearly 31,000 people have died in the disaster.

    LBL De Alwis, chief judicial medical officer in the capital Colombo, has said that the problem of identification had stifled the process of issuing death certificates.

    His office has made arrangements to issue a certificate of identification of the victims facilitating the ultimate issuance of death certificates.

    De Alwis called upon the relatives of the victims to use items such as jewelry, identity cards, credit cards and other material to positively identify the bodies which are in decomposed state after a month from the Dec. 26 tragedy.

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