The number of death toll in the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Indonesia increased to 105,522,with 10,088 others still missing, the Social Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday.

"The number of death toll is predicted to rise, as there are still many bodies unfound from the debris," an official from the ministry, Ratna Emilia, told Xinhua.

The largest death toll was in the almost completely destroyed Meulaboh district on the remote northwest coast of Sumatra island where 28,251 people were found dead, she said.

The catastrophe also makes more than 655,144 people homeless and at least 1,448 others seriously injured, the official said.

"This afternoon we receive fax, requesting more trucks to carry more bodies in Banda Aceh (the capital of Aceh province)," she said.

An extremely powerful earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale shocked many parts of the provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh on Dec. 26.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2005)