The US State Department confirmed on 30 December 2004 that 14 Americans had died in the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami catastrophe. Spokesman Richard Boucher made the announcement at a press briefing in Washington.
Seven deaths occurred in Thailand and seven in Sri Lanka, among a mix of tourists and permanent residents. Several thousand American nationals remained unaccounted for at the time of the briefing, though officials cautioned that many were likely unreachable rather than presumed dead.
Washington deployed consular teams to Phuket and Bangkok's main airport, and sent additional personnel to the worst-affected areas of Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Staff visited hospitals, hotels, and morgues to locate and identify citizens. About 600 names had been cleared from the missing list over two days, though new names continued to be added.
US embassies across the region provided emergency services to survivors who had lost all their possessions in the waves. Boucher said people were arriving at consular offices with "only their bathing suits," and were being given money, accommodation, and replacement passports.
The broader disaster, triggered by a massive earthquake on 26 December, had killed nearly 120,000 people across several Asian nations by the time of Boucher's briefing.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in December 2004, in its own words.