Wednesday, January 12 2005 20:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Port Blair: The Indian Navy today (Jan 12, 2005) gave up hope of finding any more tsunami survivors in the Andaman and Nicobar islands suggesting that the more than 5500 officially recorded figure of people missing after the tsunami could be presumed dead.

''Knowing the seas as what they are, it is unlikely that there might still be any bodies will be recovered. Statistical chances of any more survivors is very remote,'' Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash said in Port Blair.

Briefing newspersons after whirlwind tour of the southern group of islands, he said even if there were any bodies in the seas they would be in a highly decomposed state.

''So the chances are very little that we will find any one else surviving in the water,'' he said.

While the officially recorded death toll in the calamity is 1492, the number of people missing since the tsunami was 5528.