Online help: Deputy Secretary for Security Michael Wong says the Immigration Department has set up a dedicated webpage to provide information to help affected residents.

Another Hong Kong man is confirmed dead following the tsunamis in Phuket, bringing to two the number of Hong Kong people killed.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Deputy Secretary for Security Michael Wong confirmed that another Hong Kong resident had died in Phuket.

The deceased's family had identified the body, Mr Wong said, adding the Government would not disclose further information on the deceased at the request of his family.

Mr Wong said the Government's 145-strong team had set up fixed assistance points at Phuket and Bangkok airports and at the co-ordination centre provided by the Thai Government. It will form a command centre and set up a hotline in Phuket as soon as possible.

At 2pm today, the Immigration Department's hotline, 2829 3010, had received 839 requests for assistance. Of the people enquired about, 277 cannot be reached. Among them, 199 were reported to be in Thailand, 12 in Malaysia, 13 in Sri Lanka, six in the Maldives, 24 in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, 723 people are reportedly stranded in the affected areas. Since the information on these people is incomplete, the Government is now following up on these cases.

Tsunamis help info webpage set up 

The Immigration Department has set up a dedicated webpage to provide information to help affected residents. The webpage contains information such as the telephone number of China's embassies and consulates in the affected areas, and the contact numbers of other related organisations.

Speaking on the disclosure of information about missing Hong Kong residents, Mr Wong said the move may not be very useful since the situation was different from normal missing persons cases.

However, the Government will contact the families of the 277 cases to see if they agree to disclose information about their missing relatives. If they agree to do so, the Government will disclose the information in an appropriate way.

$14m allocated to two organisations

Meanwhile, a grant of $14 million from the Disaster Relief Fund has been approved for World Vision Hong Kong and Oxfam Hong Kong to provide emergency aid to victims in the affected countries. The two organisations will share the grant equally.

Noting that the approval procedure of the fund had been sped up, Mr Wong said the Government had agreed to accept applications from the affected countries. It will work out the details of the arrangements with the consulates of those countries later.

Director of Home Affairs Pamela Tan said a fund-raising activity would be held from 3pm to 5pm on January 1 at the Hong Kong Stadium.

She said the money raised would be donated to the Red Cross, World Vision, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Oxfam, Salvation Army, and United Nations Children's Fund.

Mrs Tan said her bureau had contacted 65 affected families to discuss their needs and will continue contacting victims' families. She urged affected residents and their families who need psychological or welfare assistance to call the bureau's hotline - 2835 1473.

Meanwhile, the bureau will set up an assistance point at Hong Kong International Airport tomorrow to offer immediate help to victims arriving in Hong Kong.