The death toll in at least eight countries from a massive weekend earthquake and tsunami in Asia reached 60,000 Tuesday, Sky News reported.
That figure is expected to rise.
Thousands remained missing and an estimated 1 million were left homeless in Sri Lanka alone after Sunday's disaster.
More than 19,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka and 11,500 in India.
The BBC reported by midday Tuesday, hundreds of bodies were still strewn around the streets of Banda Aceh, capital of the Indonesian province of Aceh. Indonesian leaders say as many as 25,000 died on the island of Sumatra alone, Sky News said.
As many as 18,000 are believed dead in Sri Lanka and 11,400 in India. In Thailand, the bodies of more than 800 mainly foreign tourists were also found in the resort of Khao Lak.
Numerous countries began flying in aid to the areas, although fear grew over disease, as many areas have run out of body bags and workers can't identify and bury the dead quickly enough.
U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said the relief operation would probably cost "many billions of dollars."
The quake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, was so intense it also apparently killed hundreds of people in four east African nations, nearly 4,000 miles from the epicenter, Sky News said.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
