ANKARA, Dec 28 (AFP) - Two Turks have been injured and 41 others remain unaccounted for after huge quake-triggered tidal waves devastated coastal areas in several Asian nations, a foreign ministry official said on Tuesday.
The Turkish authorities are still looking for 18 nationals in Thailand, six in Malaysia, six in India, three in Sri Lanka, three in Myanmar, two in the Maldives, two in Singapore and one in Indonesia, the official told AFP.
"Most of them went to the region as tourists, while a small number worked either as diving instructors or in hotels and tourism agencies," he said.
Two Turks have been hospitalized in Thailand's resort island of Phuket, but they are out of danger, he said.
Late on Monday Ankara dispatched a plane to the Maldives to repatriate Turks stranded in the region, including football celebrities Emre Asik and Umit Davala, who play respectively for Istanbul club Besiktas and Germany's Werder Bremen, as well as Suat Kaya, a coach at Galatasaray.
The plane was expected to return later on Tuesday.
No Turkish citizens have so far been reported dead after Sunday's disaster, the death toll in which surged past 55,000 on Tuesday.
12/28/2004 14:52 GMT - AFP