The death toll of Hong Kong tsunami victims rose to nine by 12:00 a.m. Wednesday, an official of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said.

Deputy Secretary for Security Michael Wong said that in the past 24 hours one more female Hong Kong resident were confirmed dead in Sri Lanka.

He said that, as of Wednesday noon, 62 Hong Kong residents traveling in the tsunamis-hit areas were reported to have lost contacts with their families in Hong Kong, eight less than the number reported Tuesday.

Among the missing ones, 34 were tourists to Thailand, 11 to Indonesia, one to Malaysia, and 16 to other tsunamis-hit countries.

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2005)