43 Chinese tourists missing in Phuket

Forty-three Chinese tourists remained missing in Thailand's tsunami-hit tourist spot, Phuket, even as China sent the first batch of relief material to Sri Lanka.

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Among the 43 missing tourists, five are from the Chinese mainland, 30 from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region and eight from Taiwan, Xinhua news agency quoted a senior Chinese diplomat as saying in Phuket.

Pan Guangxue, a counsellor of the Chinese Embassy said the mission was making all out efforts to search for them.

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So far, 486 mainland tourists have left Phuket for home and the rest will go back soon, he said.

Xinhua also reported that the first batch of China's relief material carried by a China Southern Airline plane left Beijing on Wednesday for Sri Lanka, one of the worst tsunami-hit countries.

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