The death toll in northwestern England's Morecambe Bay rose to 20 after a woman's body was found on a sandbank Sunday, police said.  

Her body was spotted by a birdwatcher at 1320 GMT in Morecambe Bay and then taken to hospital.

"The body was of a person of Oriental appearance," said a Lancashire police spokesman.

He added that a postmortem examination on the body would be held Monday and police investigating the tragedy will now attempt to identify what they are considering is the latest victim.

The discovery follows claims made Saturday by a leading member of Morecambe's Chinese community that more bodies would be found.

At a memorial service at the town, Gina Tan revealed that survivors had told her 24 cocklers had gone out, even though only 19 bodies were found.

"There were 24 dead. Nineteen bodies have been found. Another five bodies are at sea," she said.

A total of 16 people, two white Europeans and 14 thought to be Chinese, survived the tragedy when the cockle hunters got trapped by fast-rising tides on February 5.

Seven people arrested on suspicion of manslaughter have been released on police bail.

(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2004)