Still no news on missing Irish after Asia quake

Up to 20 Irish people are still missing after the Asian tsunami disaster last week.

Officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs are concentrating on five cases of people that were known to have been holidaying mainly in Thailand when the earthquake hit the region.

Government searches and appeals for information on the internet have so far failed to reveal the whereabouts of up to 26 Irish people who have not been seen since the tidal waves lashed coastlines across South Asia six days ago.

About 830 Irish people who were in the disaster zone at the time the tsunamis struck have been accounted for.

Officials have said that a handful of people have established contact with relatives in recent days.

Irish Ambassador in Thailand Dan Mulhall, has been visiting hospitals and morgues in the south of the country as part of efforts to find the missing Irish.

Their families back home are continuing to trawl internet sites for any information that might lead them to their loved ones.