Thursday, December 30 2004 16:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: As rescue workers continued the grim task of burying bodies, the toll in the Tsunami catastrophe rose to 22,800 in Sri Lanka while an estimated 4,059 people were still missing, officials said today (Dec 30, 2004).

The number of people injured in the deadly tidal wave attack were 8,815 while some 6,00,810 have been rendered homeless, the Disaster Management Unit (DMU) officials at the President's office said.

The DMU said 93,407 people were staying at 793 relief camps operating in schools, halls, temples and churches all over the country.

Sri Lanka has made a renewed appeal to international agencies and Governments for more relief supplies to be distributed to the displaced as rescue workers continued burying bodies and clearing up in the wake of the disaster.

"The current necessity is primarily for the supply of material and financial assistance, more than foreign relief personnel," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said.

On Tuesday (Dec 28, 2004), Sri Lanka asked Israel to scale down an over 100-member medical team and wanted critical supplies to be sent instead.

Aircraft carrying urgently needed food, drugs, water purification equipment and other material have been flying in to the island's only international airport since Monday (Dec 27, 2004), a day after the giant waves struck.

Convoys of trucks have been leaving the capital Colombo and making their way to the affected areas, including the north and the east, parts of which are in the hands of Tamil Tiger rebels.