Monday, January 10 2005 15:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Port Blair: The wait is endless, but the relatives of those missing, some 5,000 of them, wouldn't just give up. They want their dear ones back even if dead and everyday advertisements with photographs seeking information on them fill the columns of the Islands' newspapers.

''Anybody knowing about them, please contact...'', this insertion was common in the 'The Daily Telegrams', the leading daily in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Many who had gone to work as teachers or engineers to the Tsumani-hit Car Nicobar, Campbell Bay or Katchal islands are missing. Of the over 5,000 people reported missing, a majority of them were from the Katchal Island.

Neither the local administration nor the integrated relief command, entrusted with the relief and rescue operation could throw any light on whether they were still alive.

''We have put them in the category of missing,'' the Commander-n-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar, Lt Gen B S Thakur, said after persistent queries regarding their status.

Asked how long they would wait for their return, Thakur said that he was not competent enough to answer this question.

A few, who were presumed to be dead, had miraculously escaped and returned 10 days after the killer waves lashed the islands.