This may be the worst natural disaster in recent history UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Jan Egeland

Indonesia is thought to be the worst-hit country in the region, with 4,185 confirmed dead.

In Sri Lanka, over 3,500 people have died and one million more have been made homeless. President Chandrika Kumaratunga has declared a national emergency.

Hundreds of fisherman are missing off the southern Indian coast and witnesses have reported scores of bodies being washed up on beaches.

Other countries hit by the tsunami include Malaysia, Thailand, the Maldives, the Seychelles and the Indian-owned Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Harrowing stories from the disaster zone are beginning to emerge.

Jayanti Lakshmi, 70, lost her son and twin grandsons while out shopping with her daughter-in-law in Cuddalore, southern India.

She said: "I wish I had died instead of the others, my daughter-in-law would have a life. I can't bear to watch her pain."

And a father in Sri Lanka watched as his entire family was swept away by the sea.

"It dragged my wife away, then my two-month-old twins," he said. "Then I watched my seven-year-old son drown."

Large part of the affected area are popular holiday destinations and many resorts have been badly hit.

In Thailand, hundreds of holiday bungalows have been destroyed on the popular Phi Phi Island. Tourists from all over the world are thought to be among the dead.

Health experts now fear that many more could die as diseases like typhoid, cholera and malaria spread rapidly.

United Nations Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Jan Egeland said many of the affected areas had dense populations living in sub-standard housing.

"This may be the worst natural disaster in recent history," he added.

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