"Our country's embassies and consulates in the affected areas attach great importance to helping those affected by the incident and have taken immediate action to gather information and offer help to China's citizens, including Hong Kong citizens hit by the disaster," he said.

Mr Tung expressed concern for Hong Kong citizens injured and stranded because of the disaster, adding the Government would make every necessary arrangement to assist them to return to Hong Kong.

Three flights will fly from Phuket to Hong Kong tonight, Mr Tung noted, adding charter flights may be arranged to take Hong Kong residents back if necessary.

Hotline offers tips on dealing with trauma

Meanwhile, the Social Welfare Department has set up a special hotline - 9184 3775 - to give the public useful information about possible traumatic reaction and tips on relieving emotional stress.

The hotline is taking calls daily from 9am to 10pm.

At 10pm this evening, 647 requests for assistance had been received, along with a report of the death of a 39-year-old Hong Kong man, surnamed Leung. 

His wife, a foreign national, informed immigration officers that she had identified the corpse of her husband and had informed the British Embassy in Thailand of her husband's death. He held a British passport and a Hong Kong identity card.

Immigration officers in Phuket are keeping in close contact with her and will provide necessary assistance.

Arrangements have been made for three more Immigration officers to go to Bangkok to provide assistance to and facilitate the safe return of Hong Kong people.

Immigration Officers Wong Tak-fai and Anna Wong left on flight CX709 at 9.55pm while Assistant Principal Immigration Officer Ip Chun-tang was to depart for Bangkok on flight CX713 at 9.05am tomorrow.

277 call to ask about missing relatives

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Mr Tsang said 277 requests were about relatives missing.

Among them, 64 people have returned to Hong Kong while the remaining 213 cannot be reached. Information showed that 170 of them are in Phuket and 10 in Sri Lanka.

About 600 residents may also have gone to the affected areas. However, the information on those people is incomplete and about a quarter of them have reportedly returned to Hong Kong.

Officers sent to assist HK people to return home

Mr Tsang said there were about 30 to 40 tourist groups in Phuket during the earthquake and half of them had returned or would return to Hong Kong by this evening. The rest would be back soon, he said.

Since some Hong Kong people are expected to have gone to South Asian countries on their own, the exact number of Hong Kong people affected by the incident is still unknown.

Mr Tsang said four more Immigration officers had been sent to Phuket and Sri Lanka to assist affected citizens to return to Hong Kong.

"Four flights flew from Phuket to Hong Kong last night while three flights will fly to Hong Kong tonight. So the number of people stranded at Phuket Airport will not be large."

Mr Tsang said the Government adopts an open attitude on the issue of arranging charter flights to bring Hong Kong people back.

"We have contacted some airlines and they have agreed to handle the issue in a flexible way. So there is no need to arrange charter flights at the moment."

HK willing to offer assistance 

He urged people who have called the Government's hotline to let operators know of their latest situation as soon as possible so that the Government can grasp the actual situation.

Speaking on the assistance to be offered to the concerned countries, Mr Tsang said he had told the representatives of Thailand, India, Indonesia and Maldives Governments that Hong Kong was willing to offer every possible help.

Medical organisations and the Fire Services Department are also ready to send people to the affected countries to join the rescue operations if necessary.

Meanwhile, the Government has also contacted a number of organisations including the Red Cross, World Vision and Medecins Sans Frontieres, encouraging them to submit their applications to the Disaster Relief Fund.