Wednesday, December 29 2004 12:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Britain's large Indian and Sri Lankan communities scrambled yesterday (Dec 28, 2004) to rush relief aid to the victims of the monster tidal waves, which devastated a broad stretch of the south Asian coastline over the weekend.

"We have received calls from the Indian community in London who wanted to contribute. I must say they're quite a responsive community," said Kuldeep Bhardwaj, spokesman at the Indian High Commission in London.

An estimated 1.3 million people of Indian origin live in Britain, making it one of the biggest Indian communities in the world after the 1.8 million who live in Malaysia and 1.5 million in the United States, he said.

"They were asking us how they can contribute so we guide them to the Prime Minister's appeal on the website," which was due to appear later, he said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has issued an appeal for contributions to a national relief fund to cope with a disaster that has forced thousands of survivors to flee the destruction in search of food, water and shelter.

They were among the 1,00,000 people displaced from homes in Tamil Nadu, according to the international relief organization UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund). Another 30,000 were displaced in neighbouring Pondicherry.

Many crowded into Government halls, schools and other buildings. Others found themselves places on pavements.

The toll of Indian dead yesterday crossed 8,500, nearly half of them in the tropical Andamans.